Extreme Makover:Life Edition
by Trixter Dark
Summary: Hey waffles!It's The three part Epic Sora/Riku fan-fiction story! Not meaning that it's 3 chapters long, it's way longer Featuring all the things we love and sometimes over use In stories about them: cross-dressing, vampires, and rock bands! PART ONE IS OVER. PART TWO COMING SOON
1. Chapter 1

Here it is waffles! It's The three part Epic Sora/Riku fan-fiction story! Featuring all the things we love (and over use) I stories about them: cross-dressing, vampires, and rock bands! Here we go kiddies!

Part one: chapter one, Welcome to Twilight Academy/ Extreme makeover, life edition: Extreme makeover, gender edition

Sora clicked furiously on the computer. He sat in the corner of his blue and black room. The only light source being the LCD screen and the crack of light coming through the door way. Just one month ago, he and his younger brother had moved out of his mother's house, and into his father's old haunt in Twilight town.

"Are the results up yet?" Roxas called from the next room. It was the first time the two would be sleeping in separate places, because his bed has just arrived.

"Yeah! Kinda…" Sora called back, scratching his head.

Roxas entered the room and peered over his brother's shoulder. "Oh, there it is." Sora clicked on a window of already opened E-mail from Twilight Academy. It was one of the top schools in the country, and Sora had always wanted to got there. 'Being able to go there by myself, pay for it myself, and practically get a college education before I'm twenty? That's like thirty kinds of awesome!'

"Congratulations. You've been selected to attend Twilight Academy this fall…"Roxas read aloud, "Roxas Hoshino...Hey! What a sec, where's your name?"

Sora blinked. "I guess I didn't get in…Hold on…they just sent another e-mail…"He opened and read aloud, "Sora Hoshino, We regret to inform you that you were not selected for the upcoming fall semester at Twilight Academy. The last available slots for male students have been closed. If you would like to reapply for…" He stopped reading. "I didn't get in…" He sighed. They had already moved to Twilight town, and the next high school was a ferry ride and a three trains away.

"Hold on a sec…" Roxas nearly sat on his brother and Sora scooted over so he could access the computer. "I'm going on the school's social site. It's like mybook face, but just for Twilight students." Ever since sixth grade, Roxas had taken an interest in hacking. "Let's see…" He pulled up a list of freshmen students. "The last five people were Hayner painer, Pence spence, Rasta Fire, me, and some guy named Riku."

"Riku what?"

"Nothing. Just Riku. Let's look at his page…whoa, someone's a pretty boy. With boring hobbies and money apparently. He's a model/one hit wonder."

Sora sighed and Roxas glared at the screen. "THIS is what they accepted instead of you?! Come on!"

"It's not that bad…" Sora said, putting on a smile, even though his brother knew it was fake. "It's not to late to apply to that other place."

"What?! Noooo! We just moved here, you can't send me to some preppy school filled with kids I don't know. I only signed up for it because you wanted to go there. Besides, I've seen pictures of that other place, it's like a penitentiary or something." He rubbed his chin. "I'll decline and we can both go to the other school."

"That's not fair Roxas. T.A. is a great school, you shouldn't miss out on it."

Roxas crossed his arms. "…..It's not fair…." He pressed the back button twice, and it brought him back to the student list. "Oh…Oh hey!" Sora looked back at the screen. "What is it?"

"There are fifty more slots open…for female students."

Sora gave him a quizzical look, then read the look on Roxas' face. "You mean…Really?"

"Why not? All you gotta do is re-apply. Send another photo, slightly tweak your admissions essay…Leave the rest of the info alone."

"But Roxas, I'm-a-guy. Won't someone think it's weird if Ms. Sora Hoshino shows up in some slacks with spiky hair and a skate board?"

"Dude, you need to watch Host Club."

"What?"

"Please? Could we at least try?"

Sora blinked and tried not to look at those big blue eyes, the same ones he used to get his way all the time. "Aw…Okay. Let's give it a try!"

"Cool! Let's start with that photo! We gotta make you look girly."

Sora groaned. "Can't we just Photoshop something?"

"Naw, It should look good, like you really are a girl…We have to do something with your hair."

Sora affectionately played with his brown spikes. "But I like my video game style hair..."

"So do I, but chicks don't really style it like that…unless they're lesbians (No offense! This is just a opinion of his…if you wanna wear it, go ahead) We have to straighten it a little."

Sora pouted. "Hm…fine."

Ten minutes later Sora squirmed as Roxas lathered his hair with shampoo. It was evening, and the water was cold. When droplets hit his neck, he shivered and whined. "Come on Sora, almost done…" Roxas said, rinsing out the suds. He picked up a comb, "Here's the hard part." Blow dryer and comb in hand he began detangling Sora's locks. The neighbors were beginning to wonder what exactly was going on in the house, because Sora's screams of pain echoed down the block.

"There we go…" Roxas said, brushing Sora's hair.

Sora stared at his reflection. His front bangs were still spiky at his request. A blue headband sat on his head, and the rest of his hair was flat and obedient. "I look like Nancy drew, punk addition."

Roxas chuckled. "Okay. Now put this shirt on."

Sora fingered the fabric. "Isn't this from the first time I did laundry, and did the white clothes plus one red sock?"

"Yup. And it's still bright pink. Now try it own."

Sora began pulling off his shirt.

Roxas sighed. "Careful, you'll mess up your hair. And if this actually works, you're going to have to tell me to leave the room when you change. Act girly."

Sora rolled his eyes and put on the shirt. Roxas held up the camera. "Smile Sora-chan."

Two hours of forgery later, Sora and Roxas were snoozing above the covers on Sora's bed.

Sora awoke in the middle of the night, and found that he was clinging to his little brother. Sighing, he released his grasp and started to pry the blonde's fingers from his shirt. Roxas nuzzled him in his sleep, and Sora blushed. 'We're getting too old for this.' "Roxas…wake up. You gotta go sleep in your bed now." Roxas opened one eye and shut it again. Sora frowned. "Fine, but at least get under the covers."

Roxas smiled and let him go. "It's so cold here…what seaside town gets this cold?"

" I don't know…" Sora got up and shut off the light. "Let's buy some comforters tomorrow." he crawled back into bed.

"Not from that weird Swedish store."

"ZZZZZ."

End of chapter one…of part one…yay…..

In a lot of these generic little fics, Roxas appears as Sora's younger brother, older brother, Twin younger brother, or cousin with the exact same face. I went for younger twin here. Simply because, they're two halves of the same whole. I like older, protective Roxas, but I like older protective Sora and younger possessive Roxas too. Hm, get ready for Kairi, Riku and Axel…Which type of Riku do you prefer? Pervy Riku? Mysterious Riku? Doesn't even know Sora's alive riku? Or maybe……

See you next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two of part one: Last day of the dude. I like my eggs fried with cheese and bacon on a roll.**

"**Ping."**

**Sora woke up first, his clothes were sweaty and clung to his skin. Roxas was still snuggled against him, but the temperature shift made him uncomfortable. Sora released himself from Roxas' grip.**

**He wiped the drool off his chin, and glanced at his computer screen. He'd left it on all night.**

'**Crap…' He ran a hand through his hair. "Huh? Oh, it's still straight back there…"**

**He quietly slumped over to the computer to turn it off, when he noticed the mail icon flashing. Curious, he clicked it. Two more E-mails from Twilight Academy.**

'**Mr. Roxas Hoshino, your schedule and uniform will be delivered by 8/22/year of the apple. To make any corrections or ask any questions E-mail Dean Cid (my pc turned this into a hyperlink, and I nearly busted out laughing) **

**Sora closed the E-mail and opened the next one.**

'**Ms. Sora Hoshino, thank you for applying to Twilight Academy for late admission. Your essay and information is being processed, and a answer should arrive in twenty four hours.'**

'**Twenty four…'Sora read the bottom of the e-mail, 'This came twenty minutes after I applied! That means I've got…' He looked at the time. 'Fifteen hours left?'**

**Roxas woke up an hour later, to the smell of a hot breakfast and the sound of daytime television. He sat down at the table. "Ooh, Pancakes and Omelets…someone's in a good mood today."**

**Sora scraped the pan and put it in the sink. He sat down across from his brother. "Twilight accepted my admission. They're gonna give me an answer later."**

**Fifteen hours later.**

**Sora woke up to the sound of 'you got mail'. He slinked over to the computer and clicked the mail box, and then…. "Roxas! Roxas! I got into the academy Roxas!"**

**Roxas paused his guitarbandrock hero game. "WHHHAAAAT?! Seriously!?"**

"**Yeah! They said the uniform would arrive when yours did."**

"**That's awesome! Wait…"**

"**What?"**

"**Doesn't that mean you'll have to go through with the 'girl' thing?"**

"**Oh yeah….crap. What if I explain I'm a tomboy and wear pants?"**

"**Wait, have you seen the girl uniform?"**

"**Yeah. It's a pink dress with a pink ribbon, with a pink plaid skirt with pink la-OH MY GOD!"**

"**This is going to be a problem…"**

**Sora thought about it for a moment. "No, I think I can do it…"**

**Roxas blinked. "Seriously?"**

"**Yeah…it can't be that hard right? All I gotta do is keep my hair straight, and wear a dress…."**

"**And learn not to talk with your mouth full, and cross your legs, and disguise your voice…and go in the girl's bathroom." Roxas added.**

**Sora sat down. "Oh man. This is going to be painful."**

"**Don't worry." Roxas said smiling, "We've got the next few days to turn you into a girl. We'll do some research."**

"**And by research, you mean…?"**

"**Manga, Wifetime, and talk shows."**

"**This is like fifty kinds of wrongness."**

**Sora spent the next few hours playing video games, watching viral videos online, making sandwiches out of everything he could find in the fridge, and whatever he thought girls didn't do. The next day was devoted to his transformation, and he honestly wasn't looking forward to it.**

**Day one: The trial begins**

"**Okay, we've been watching this stuff for a few hours now." Roxas turned off the television. "Let's see your walk."**

**Sora stood up and walked towards the kitchen.**

"**Bzzt! Wrong." Roxas said. "Try again."**

**Sora raised an eyebrow. "What? What was wrong with it?"**

"**You're slouching. And your hips are supposed to swing back and forth."**

"**What? I thought that lady was doing that because she was fat."**

"**No, no. Now try again."**

**Sora huffed and started again, trying to do it like the women on television.**

"**Okay. That's better. Now sit down."**

**Sora plopped on the couch.**

"**Arrgh! Wrong again."**

"**What?! I didn't do anything!"**

"**You're supposed to look around subconsciously, like you're unsure you should sit there. Then you smooth your 'imaginary' skirt under and sit slowly."**

"**That takes forever! Why don't girls just sit?"**

"**Because they want you to notice. Or maybe they don't want to mess up their clothes, I wouldn't know."**

**Sora tried sitting down again. "Look, I'm moving in slow motion."**

"**Cool." Roxas gestured at the food. **

**Sora picked up a piece of pizza, ready to shove it in his mouth.**

"**Hey! Hey! Small bites! Don't wolf it down! And pat the oil off it first, like you care about your weight."**

"**This is so…" He patted of the oil with a napkin, and bit the pizza, chewing slowly. "Mm…Slow motion eating…"**

"**Don't talk with food in your mouth Sora."**

**Sora nodded and swallowed the slice whole.**

**Roxas scratched his head. "Arrgh…Forget it, just be a tomboy."**

**Sora beamed. "Yes!"**

"**But you still have to disguise your voice, and cross your legs every now and then."**

"**Okay…" He was about to wipe the oil on his shirt, "Now, wha-"**

"**Use a napkin!"**

"**Oh…my bad."**

"……… **Have some soda."**

**Sora picked up the bottle.**

"**Pour it into a cup. **_**Then**_** drink it."**

"**Okay, okay." Sora sipped the soda.**

"**Good, good." Roxas flipped his cell phone open. "I think we need to call in an expert."**

**Sora nearly wiped the oil on his shirt again and stopped himself. "Who?"**

"**Yuffie-chan…and maybe Aerith."**

"**What?! Yuffie tries to hook me up with guys as it is. And Aerith?!"**

"**They're girls Sora. If we're going to do this…"**

"**Okay. But, if we tell them, they're gonna talk to-"**

"**Yeah. But if you think about it, he's going to find out at some point."**

"**Well yeah, we'll see him at school. But I'm afraid that he might…just maybe…"**

"**No Sora. I think we talk to Dad more than he does."**

**Sora leaned back on the couch. Then he sat upright again, and fixed his hair like he'd been told to.. "Alright, tell them to come over…"**

**An hour later, Yuffie and Aerith were on their doorstep.**

"**Hi guys!" Yuffie said as the two entered the house. "Sora! You finally came outta the closet?!"**

"**Please stop saying that Yuffie…"**

"**Oh Sora….Your hair looks so cute." Aerith said, smiling.**

**Sora blushed. "Thank you."**

"**I brought some clothes that might suit you." She said holding up two shopping bags. "Your friends will probably want to see you outside of school."**

**Yuffie held up a walkartgreensmart bag. "I got you some hair accessories to keep up your look." she smiled. "How do you feel about hot pink highlights?"**

**Sora paled. "Well I don't know. This is really taking a toll on me. The guy in me wants to barf but the new girl part of my brain says it'll go great with my uniform."**

**They all entered the living room. Sora sighed as he was pushed into the bathroom with different outfits, forced into painful shoes and made to walk around the room, and picked the gloss that went the best with his lips. **

'**It's going to be a long four years.' He thought. 'A long. Painful, pink, plaid, skateboard-less, frilly four years.'**

**End of chapter two.**

**Are we all enjoying the party? Class is in session, next time on-**

**Welcome to twilight academy/Extreme makeover: life edition.**


	3. Chapter 3: cruel author's thesis

**Chapter three: You who embrace the heavens and shine, young boy become a legend!**

**A/N: Just watching 'gust of wind the combat butler' second, episode twelve and my brain is fried. Don't try to run that name through google, the anime I'm referring to probably won't come up.**

**Six fifty-five. Sora jumped out of bed. 'Preparation Start!' He jumped in the shower, Jumping out he followed up the strawberry body wash with it's matching body butter. He brushed his hair. He put on the uniform, piece by piece. Brushing his skirt off, He glanced at his reflection in his pearl trimmed, full body mirror.**

**Roxas entered the room. His bright blue eyes went perfectly with the sea salt blue uniform. His pants and tie were plaid as Sora's skirt was, just in blue.**

"**Morning Sora. You look…good."**

"**Thank you." Sora said, with his Haley meets Emily joel Osment patented voice. "Are you ready to go?"**

"**Yeah…let's hurry. The trolley leaves in a few minutes."**

**The two br-Roxas and his **_**sister**_** left the house and headed towards the station.**

**They made it to the school with minutes to spare and entered the cafeteria for breakfast.**

'**Whoa look at this spread!' Sora thought.**

"**Wow look at all this food!" Roxas said out loud.**

**Sora pouted and got in line behind his brother. 'Of course you get to eat whatever you want Roxas. I have to pretend to watch my figure.' He looked at the long buffet table of breakfast food. Tall trays of waffles, pancakes, sausage links, eggs, and et cetera seemed to call to Sora, and he tried his best to keep a small plate. 'One pancake, one waffle, two sausage links, scrambled eggs.' He felt his brother's glare, but he returned it and picked up some bacon. "Done."**

**Roxas rolled his eyes and looked at the marble lunch tables. "Let's go sit down."**

**As they strode towards some empty seats, a few students looked at them.**

"**Who are those two?" Said a tall girl with blonde spiky hair.**

**A blue haired bored looking teen next her shrugged. "I think they have moved here recently."**

**An exciteable boy with large red spikes atop his head jumped up. "I'm going to go say hello to them." He picked up his tray and strode towards them just as they were sitting down.**

**The bored looking blue haired teen looked at the blonde haired girl. "Larxene." He spoke softly. "Where is **_**that**_** one?"**

**She shrugged. "Beats me. I think I saw him this morning but…maybe he went back to sleep or something."**

"**His condition is getting stranger."**

**The boy with spiky red hair stopped in front of Roxas and his br-sister.**

"**Yo! My name is Axel! I'm a freshmen, and since I saw you at orientation, I'm guessing you are too!" He stopped his rant when he locked eyes with Roxas. 'Wow…he's the prettiest non-girl I've ever seen…' He tore his eyes away at that thought and looked at Sora. 'Whoa are they related? This girl is really cute too.'**

"**My name is Roxas." He said smiling. **

"**I'm Sora."**

"**We're the Hoshino twins!" They said in unison, as they always did when meeting someone new. The only difference this time was, their voices didn't sound similar with Sora in girl mode.**

"**Oh cool. I totally got that memorized. So, what's your schedule like?"**

"**We have gifted math first thing, then English, Biology, lunch, Physical education, Health."**

"**Oh! You wouldn't happen to have Biology in the green hall would you?"**

"**Uh…yes."**

"**Perfect! I'm in your class then!"**

"**Oh okay…" Roxas seemed a little confused about this boy's enthusiasm. 'Why does he keep looking at me like that?'**

**Just then a petite blond girl walked over. "Oh, Axel. And these two."**

**Roxas' jaw dropped. He's never seen anyone so…so… "Uh….." He said blinking.**

**Sora didn't know what had just infected his brother with stupid, so he introduced himself to her. "Hi. My name is Sora Hoshino, and this is my twin brother Roxas."**

**Roxas, realizing he was sitting there with his mouth open, started to speak. "Uh...yeah…hi."**

**She smiled and Axel spoke. "Guys, this is Naminé Shirou. One half of the Shirou sisters.**

**Naminé curtsied. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm a freshmen also, and I hope we see each other around school."**

**Sora smiled, and Roxas nodded his head slowly.**

**Just then the bell rang, and they all got up for class. "I have gifted math now," Namine said. "I'll-"**

"**In room (xbox) 360?" Sora said**

"**Yes…"**

"**So do we! Let's all go together."**

**Roxas nodded enthusiastically at that.**

**Entering the classroom, they headed for the seats with their names on them.**

'**Sheesh' Sora thought. 'Gold plaques with our name and everything. I can see where the tuition goes.'**

**The teacher, a 'Ms. Lightning', strode to front desk. "Okay everyone. Roll call!"**

**She went down the list quickly, until she reached the last few names. "Hayner painer, Kairi Shirou…"**

"**Right here!" Said a perky brunette. She tossed her hair back with a smile.**

'**Oh no…' Sora thought. 'I see a Queen Bee in the making….Crap that means I'll have to be or pretend to be friends with her.'**

"**Naminé Shirou."**

**Naminé stood and bowed.**

"**What? What's with this next row of names, none of you have a last name?"**

**Larxene stood up. "Sorry, it was our parents' idea. We're all here except-"**

**The back door to the classroom opened. A tall boy with Silver hair and striking features strode in, eyes half open and bag slung over his back.**

"**Riku." he said, finding his seat to the right of and one seat in front of Sora. He glanced back and Sora shifted in his seat.**

"**You're running late mister." **

"**Sorry. There was power outage…and then it rained….and this other excuse that I'm creative enough to think of…"**

**Sora's eyes widened in shock and soon both sets of twins were looking at him in horror.**

**Kairi looked back. 'What…'**

**Naminé blinked. 'The…'**

**Roxas glared. 'Hell…'**

**Sora raised an eyebrow. 'Is wrong with this dude?'**

"**Don't let it happen again." The teacher's voice was sharp but didn't seem to upset Riku that much.**

**Sora sat in front of, behind, next to, or a row over from Riku in every class. It annoyed him slightly, and he found himself glaring daggers at the boy. Lunch rolled around and it was clear that Riku became an instant celebrity. Sora walked into the cafeteria ahead of his twin brother, beaming when he saw a familiar sight.**

"**SQUALL!" He shouted, running towards the tall man.**

**Said brunette looked around, until he saw a girl running towards him.**

**The next thing he knew, 'she' had her arms around his neck. Girls from all corners of the room glared daggers at 'her'.**

"**Hi Squall!" Sora beamed at his older brother. "You have lunch now too?"**

**He blushed. "Oh…Sora-chan." He patted his 'sister's' head. "My name is Leon now."**

"**What-ever **_**sq-ua-ll." **_**Sora said. "You were Squall when we lived together SO you're name is Squall."**

**Squall leaned into the embrace, and from a distance it almost looked like they were kissing. "If you're wearing a plaid skirt," He tugged on Sora's hair. "My name is Leon."**

**Sora released him and Roxas walked over with Axel, and the Shiro twins. **

"**Hey Leon!" Roxas waved.**

**Axel looked confused. Kairi raised an eyebrow. "How do **_**you**_ know Leon-sempai?" Her glare was set on Sora.

However, it had no effect. "He's my big brother." Sora smiled as Sq-_Leon _patted his head.

Axel looked at them. True, there was a slight resemblance. "Leon-sempai, you never told us you had siblings."

"My family isn't something I talk about." Looking over his shoulder, he noticed a table of twelve freshmen staring.

"Riku."

Riku broke his gaze from the Hoshino trio and locked eyes with dirty blonde haired boy. "What is it Demyx?"

"What's so interesting about them? I know you have Axel on watch, but you've been looking at that girl all day."

"Axel isn't on watch." Riku said, annoyance in his tone. "He's there on his own accord. I'm just observing. What's wrong with that?"

End of chapter talk. Yo! I'm super excited about this fanfic! I've been formulating it in my head forever! Are you enjoying it?!

Yeah…In this story, just as Sora and Roxas are twins, so are Kairi and Namine. Kairi is the older one. Squall is their brother this time. Sometimes he appears as Sora's father or cousin in fan fiction, but I used this because it'll be useful later on. Oh…the names. The boys are the Hoshino twins because I like the name Hoshino Sora (Hoshi no Sora) It means sky of stars if your familiar with your Japanese. Hoshi(Star/stars) no (of) Sora (Sky) Remember, Japanese is backwards…like nabari no ou means king of nabari. The sisters are the same way. Shiro or Shirou is as in 'shiroi' or white. Simply because Namine Shiro sounds nice. I'm always picturing her in that white dress. I wonder why I put work into things like this…..


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four: The mighty Atom is Astro! This is why I'm hot, this is why I'm hot, this is why-this is why-this is why I'm hot…(Axel)

Sora sat with his brothers, the Shiro twins, and Axel during lunch. He sighed when he looked at the **one **bacon double cheeseburger on his plate, and then at the salads on Kairi and Naminé's.

"Wow." Naminé said smiling. "You must be really hungry."

"Yeah," Kairi smirked. "_You_ look like you can eat ten of those."

Sora tried not to glare, in guy mode he could eat three, but he could sense the meaning of Kairi's words.

"Oh yeah?" Sora was seconds away from saying something mean to her.

"Sora-chan." Roxas said warningly.

'Whatever….stupid mean girl.'

"So, uh…Axel." Roxas turned his gaze to the red head that stared at him. "You…you all seem to know each other. You and uh…N-Naminé and Kairi."

"That's right." Kairi nibbled at her salad. "We went to the Twilight academy junior high division with Axel and his family…We met your brother back then too."

"Family?" Sora said.

"Yeah….Larxene, Demyx, Riku, Zexion, Marluxia, everyone at that table over there." He looked back at the twelve seated. "We're all family."

"Axel…" Kairi opened her mineral water. "Where was Riku? How come he didn't go to school with us before?"

"Riku." Sora thought he saw the silver haired boy shift when he repeated the name. "You guys are related?"

Axel didn't answer the question. "So, you guys enjoying the T.A. campus?"

"Yeah it's cool." Roxas squirmed in his seat. 'Please stop staring at me like that…I thought he was just hungry when he was looking at me like that before, but here we are at lunch and He's still doing it.'

"It's really pretty." Sora said looking at the white marble chairs, the delicate carvings in the ceiling, doorways, and hallways. 'Ugh…I am never saying pretty to describe walls ever again.' Yet, he definitely thought the place looked watched them talk for the rest of the period, forgetting his mid-day nap.

Physical Education. (A.K.A 73h 3v1l) Sora blinked in confusion as the boys and girls separated into rooms. 'Physical Education means….it means…'He followed Kairi into the locker room. 'HOLY $/-/*7!' GIRLS, Half naked girls. He sat on the bench in front of his locker. Kairi and Namine were changing behind him while he hyperventilated. 'holy crap, holy crap, holy crap.' He glanced inside his locker, a uniform his size was waiting for him.

"Sora?" Namine said, he turned and got an eye full of her bra. "What's wrong?"

"Uh…Uh….I….Igottago!" He hurried out of the room, thinking of a excuse to tell his teacher, a Mr. Barret.

The dark man rolled his eyes.

On the side lines, Sora watched everyone else line up. Sitting down by the school building, he saw he wasn't alone. Riku and several of his family members sat to his right.

Not wanting to spend the time in silence, he turned to the tall boy. Because they were sitting next to each other, he could see the height distance between them. "So uh…I can't participate 'cause of the sun…what about you?"

Riku seemed not to hear him. But then Sora watched his eyes slowly shift through long silver bangs. 'Woah…his eyes are blue and green at the same time…that's so weird.'

"I'm Anemic." Riku said looking down at Sora. "As for the rest of my family, the sun makes them sick. That's why, if you saw them come in this morning, they all wear black cloaks or carry parasols. I'm the lucky one."

Sora's smile faded a little. 'Wow, I feel like major crappyness right now.'

Kairi groaned as they were commanded to do push ups. Looking at the sidelines, she saw Riku and Sora talking, with Namine at the far end. She glared at Sora, 'I worked too hard to put Namine and Riku on a talking level.' She watched Namine squirm and go inside for water. 'Who is this girl? Does she have to be close to every hot guy in school? Leon is her brother, but Axel? Now Riku?'

Riku turned his gaze to Kairi, and she fell in mid push-up.

"That looked like that hurt." Sora was sitting on his knees to keep people from seeing under his skirt. It was his first day, but he wasn't wearing the proper shorts underneath it.

Riku's eyes trailed back down to Sora's squirming. "Hm." He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep…

At the end of the period Sora waited for Roxas to change, and they headed to health class. Sora didn't understand why they had both but he paled when he entered the room. A family friend was teaching it, Tifa Lockhart. "Oh heyyyyy." She winked as the Hoshinos came in and Sora shuddered. 'Crap. Does everyone know I'm prancing around in a skirt?'

He sat down, wait for it-in between Riku and Roxas. On Roxas' other side was Axel.

'Oh lord…'Roxas thought. 'I thought he was only in one of my classes. Let the awkward staring begin.'

Riku yawned as the teacher introduced herself to the class. "It's you." He said, looking down at Sora.

"Yeah." Sora looked up at him. "Hi."

"EXCUSE ME!" Tifa threw the chalk in their direction, it hit Riku in the head and he blinked. "Your beautiful new teacher is introducing herself! Ask your classmate out later!"

Riku rubbed his forehead, and Sora sank in his seat.

Tifa began her lecture on the human body, and how it should be taken care of. Sora watched her silently and wrote down notes. 'I'll stop by the Strife café later.'

Riku drifted off again, and Roxas avoided Axel's stare. Things were beginning to get normal…

End of chapter applesauce: Uh…There's nothing to say…Um…the final fantasy thirteen and seven characters are Sora's teachers and friends. I think someone from TWEWY/SKS is gonna show up too. Also, if you like astro boy or mighty atom, read Pluto. It's an awesome grown up version of one of the astro boy stories.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five: I like to eat-eat-eat-apples and bananas….The mobster on Goosebumps is drake bell….isn't that a little weird?**

**Sora sat on the worn leather stool. "Hey." It was late in the afternoon when he dropped by the Strife café. Tifa stood behind the bar, wiping glasses. "Hey! Did you enjoy my fabulous first lecture today?"**

"**Uh…yeah." He sipped his chocolate milk. "It was great…where's Denzel?"**

"**Cloud's picking him up from school now." She set a glass down and picked up another. "Marlene's staying at a friend's house. So…" She set down a glass. "What's with you and that boy?"**

"**What boy?"**

"**The super cute boy I caught you flapping your gums to in class." She winked. "That one."**

"**There's nothing between me and Riku…I barely know the guy!" Sora slurped his chocolate milk louder.**

"**Oh…but you think he's cute don't you? I don't see you saying no to that."**

"**Wha-" He turned red. "I-I'm not-he's not super cute! I-Lemme alone!" He finished his milk and hopped off the barstool, heading for the door.**

"**I'll see you in class Sora-chan!" She shouted, waving him out.**

**He glared back at her, fixed his skirt, and walked out the door**

**Sora walked through his front door. Roxas was on the phone with Kairi. "Uh…yeah…You already have the gym uniform right? I was wondering….wait! No don't put her on the ph-" There was a shuffling noise. He waved at Sora, his face was red. "H-HI Naminé…Uh….I…wanted to know If you had some long pants-Gym pants! Yeah…my sister needs a pair? Huh? She can? The school store….Okay. That'd be great…Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." Sora was about to drink from the carton when Roxas threw a pencil at his head. "Yeah…bye."**

"**Wow." Sora poured the drink in a cup. "You work fast….So, what did you call Naminé for?"**

**Roxas' blush receded. "I was calling for **_**you**_** Jerk. I was trying to get you some pants for Gym. As far as changing goes…."**

"**Oh okay." Sora said, "I guess I'll change in the bathroom stall."**

**The weekend passed by quickly, and Sora found himself in a plaid skirt once again.**

**During lunch Naminé took the Hoshino siblings to the school store. With a smile and a flip of her hair, the store clerk handed over a pair of free gym pants. **

"**Kairi showed me how to do that." She explained as they walked towards the cafeteria. "It works for almost anything."**

**Sora was beaming at his newly acquired free pants.**

**She smiled at him. "You can probably do it too Sora."**

**Sora snapped back to reality. "Huh…wha? No…I don't think I could do that…" He blushed. **

**That day Sora decided, was his last day on the sidelines during gym.**

"**I'm going to try working against the sun.", Sora told Riku, as they sat on the grass. "It doesn't bother me that much, so I'm going to join class tomorrow."**

"**Good." Riku propped his head up on his hand. "I'd join you, but sleeping while other people run around the track is so much fun."**

**As promised, Sora joined the rest of the class the next day, He was much faster and stronger than the other girls, and even then he wasn't trying his hardest. Riku, Zexion, Maluxia, and Naminé watched him from the sidelines.**

**Riku chuckled when he saw Sora trip over a hurdle, then laugh hysterically with the rest of the class. **

'**She really is something, isn't she?'**

**A week went by. It was Friday. The two sets of twins, Axel, Sq-uh, 'Leon', Hayner, Pence, and Olette were seated at a lunch table. Sora was getting better at the 'smaller portions' idea, and Axel was trying to engage Roxas in conversation.**

**Sora looked up from his strawberry milk. He noticed Riku sitting alone at a separate table.**

"**Hey Axel, why is Riku sitting by himself…again?"**

**Axel scratched his head. "Well, he had some argument with Xigbar and Xemnas, so he's sitting alone."**

"**Hm…" Sora checked his watch. "Lunch is about to end."**

"**Aw…" Roxas pouted. "Guess we should start heading for class."**

**As the others cleared their table, Sora crossed the room.**

"**Sora!" Roxas called, "Where are you going?"**

"**To wake up Riku." Sora said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He's going to be late for class again if we just let him sit there."**

**Sora stood over the sleeping boy. "Riku." He spoke softly, "Riku! Time to get up!" He shook his shoulder. "Riku…" The silver haired teen stirred in his sleep. He cracked an eye open to see a blur of pink. "Riiiiiiiku~"**

**He grabbed 'her' wrist. "Five more minutes, alarm clock-san."**

**Sora raised an eyebrow. "I don't think so mister. One more tardy and you've got detention."**

**Riku yawned and stretched his arms. "Oh….you're right, I wouldn't want **_**detention**_**." He smiled at 'her'. "Thanks for the wake up call." Sora cocked his head to the side. "?"**

**They walked to class in silence, Riku following his 'personal Alarm clock'.**

**Yes..this chapter is short, isn't it? Well….chillax alright? It takes time to make up nonsense..Oh, thank you to my new readers and reviewers, you guys are awesome! Shirou…shiroi…wolf…white…white wolf? **


	6. Chapter 6

Major apologies….next update will be when I go on break…I gotta do the new chaps for my air gear and dnangel ones first…Don't get mad!

Chapter six: Dakara shou**NEN** wa koi wo suru….zo! (That's why the boy falls in love…right!)

Kairi was looking through the clothes in her closet. 'Pink skirt, pink shirt, purple skort, white shirt, ah! Pink autumn uniform!' She pulled it to the front of the closet. The pink automatically made her think of, you guessed it, Sora. "Who does she think she is?! A week and two days of school and Riku's talking to her…Namine could have woken him up like that! Arrrghhhh….." She took a deep breath and sighed. "No, no frowning, frowning leads to wrinkles, frowning leads….to…wrinkles…"

Sora brushed his hair in the mirror. Yuffie had come over last night and put in pink highlights. 'I guess it's not so bad….they match the uniform nicely…and yet they make me want to puke at the same time…'

Roxas appeared in the doorway. "Time to go to school sis!"

Sora threw a pink fluffy pillow at his head. "Go eat dirt."

"W-What?" Roxas said, chuckling, "I'm just being in character."

"Yeah….whatever…a little too in character…"

"Aw, come on! You don't want me to accidentally call you 'bro' in front of someone do you?"

"…..Let's just go."

They arrived a few minutes early, taking advantage of the empty lunch line. Sora was sitting down with a McGriddles (Mickey d's catering!) and a stack of waffles (Best of both worlds son!) when suddenly-

"AAIE!" He heard a shriek from across the room. Kairi and Namine had entered, both sporting…pink highlights.

Sora simply blinked, and then remembered what Aerith and Yuffie told him…

"_Girls don't like it when you wear the same outfit as them." Aerith said. "If you copy their style, it upsets them."_

"_I don't think he'll have that problem though right? They all wear the same uniform!" Yuffie said…_

Well, both girls had been half right, because not every girl had pink highlights….Just these three.

'I can not believe this! Namine and I have been wearing pink highlights since junior high! No one, I mean **no one **else does it…'

Sora sank in his seat at the sight. 'Aw…crap.' "Uh….Hi?"

"Hi Sora." Namine greeted him with a smile.

"Hey so-ra." A evil aura was surrounding Kairi. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Uh….eating pancakes?"

A volcano erupted from Kairi's head.

Just then organi Riku, Axel, and their family entered. Axel walked towards the twins, Riku behind him.

"Hey guys!" Axel greeted them with a smile.

Riku nodded at them, hands in his pockets. "Hey…Sora."

Sora waved. "Uh…hi..?"

Riku pointed to his head. "Did you do something to your hair?"

Sora began to disappear under the table as Kairi turned red. Namine nudged her. "Wrinkles…" She whispered. Kairi took a deep breath and returned to normal as Sora cowered from behind the table. "Uh…yeah…It's only temporary…probably for only today…"

Kairi stopped spazzing. Sora obviously got the point. They all sat down for breakfast and chatted until the bell rang.

At lunch they all sat down again, this time with the addition of Riku. He took a seat on Sora's left with a full plate of food and no intention of eating it. "Oh hi Riku." Sora said, opening his packet of ketchup. "What brings you to our merry lunch table?"

Riku yawned. "Dunno…" He smiled. "A change of pace is good. Besides, if I sit over here, you won't have to cross the lunchroom to wake me up, will you?"

Kairi broke her silver spork in a her hand. Hayner folded his arms. "Guys." He said loudly, "The weather's going to change soon, I think we should take advantage of this final week of sun and go to the beach."

"That's an awesome idea!" Olette said, smiling at him.

"The one on the northen side of the island?" Roxas asked. "That one's like a tourist trap, isn't it?"

"Is there some place you would rather go?" Leon said, not paying much attention.

"The Destiny islands…" Sora said. "One of the smaller ones. It takes awhile to get there, but it's never too hot, and the food is cheap."

"The Destiny islands?" Kairi stopped eating her salad. "I haven't been there in years."

"Didn't we go there a lot when we were small?" Namine asked.

"Yeah…I remember 'cause we used to play with these two little boys." Kairi said. "They had the prettiest blue eyes…come to think of it, weren't they twins?"

Roxas nearly swallowed his straw. 'Now I know where I've seen Namine before…she used to play with us on dad's island….But how come I don't recognize Kairi? Wait, I think she had short hair back then….'

'Kairi….' Sora thought back. 'Oh snap! She's the little tomboy I used to play Princess rescue with on the island! She insisted on being the knight half the time, so I had to be the princess…Roxas was the evil king…and Namine…she was that tiny girl who sat in the shade all the time…Roxas really liked her…'

"Is it settled then, is that where we're going?" Pence said, eyeing Riku's hamburger.

Kairi nudged Namine. "Uh!" The petite girl said. "Riku are you coming with us?"

Riku on the verge of sleep, woke up again when Sora poked him. "Huh…the beach…." He looked at Sora. "Yeah…why not…" Before he could drift off, Sora nudged him. "Are you gonna eat your sliders?"

"No, you can have them." he chuckled. 'Wow, if I didn't know better…'

"Any objections?" Hayner asked. " No…then it's settled, Destiny Islands, here we come!"

Aw….I'm tired….this week's topic: Wouldn't Lightning be cool as Sora's mom? It would make absolutely no sense because Sora's dad is…Bwa hah haw ha!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven: Um….Listen to what she says we are the universe, **owari wa hajimari hajimari wa owari….**

As of right now, I think the relations go like this. **Axel** is stalking **Roxas** who likes **Namine** who likes(?) **Riku** who has been talking to **Sora** a lot lately who is totally oblivious to almost everything going on and is hated by **Kairi **who used to have a crush on _Leon_ who's real name is obviously **Squall**.

Sora stood on the lunch line in front of Riku. Looking down at the chocolate fountain, he cringed.

"What's the matter?" Riku said, picking up food he had no plans to eat.

"Oh…it's just…I watched willy wonka last night…"

"What's wrong with that?"

"It's just…" They moved towards the tables. "That movie really creeps me out."

"What?"

"Don't you think there's something weird about the whole set up? And the way the kids disappear one by one-is just creepy."

Riku chuckled. "You're a riot Sora."

Kairi sat at their usual table next to her sister, scribbling something down. "Okay, Namine. I've been watching them since school started and I think I've got her figured out."

"Who?"

"_Sora. _I think she plans to capture the hearts of all the cute boys, like pokemon."

"What?" Namine watched the 'girl' in question walk towards their table. "I don't think that's true. Sora's just really friendly. Axel and Riku are her friends because they approached her."

As the rest of their little clique sat down, Demyx walked towards their table, sitar on his back. "Greetings!" He said, looking in Axel's direction.

Riku gave Axel a strange look, and he nodded. "Hello Demyx."

They all sat down and ate their lunch, chatting about the up coming beach trip that weekend.

The bell rang, and they got up for class.

"Oh, hey Riku." Demyx said, waving his hand. "Am I allowed to go on the trip too?"

"Yes." Riku answered through his teeth. "But something tells me you'll be **BUSY**."

Six a.m. Saturday.

The air was warm and breezy, while the sun was still rising into the sky. The members of Sora's merry lunch table planned to meet at the bus stop, and take it to the Destiny Islands. Sora and Roxas arrived only five minutes late. Roxas carried a beach umbrella, and a duffel bag, while Sora carried two picnic baskets. "Hey! Riku! Axel!" He called.

Riku nodded and waved, while Axel carried both of their bags, nodding.

"You guys got here first?" Roxas asked, setting their things down. Sora walked up to them smiling. A pink headband sat in his hair, while he sported a two piece pink shirt, light pink shorts and checkered tennis shoes. "Wow, you're up this early Riku? I wouldn't expect you to be up now."

Riku yawned and nodded. "Yeah…It's not too bright yet…I've been up since one anyway."

"One?" Sora repeated. "That's not good. You should take a nap when we board the ferry."

"HEY!!!!!!!!!!"

The four boys turned to see Kairi, in a neon pink sundress, sun hat and sandals, waving a umbrella and beach bag. Namine stood behind her, in a white one piece dress and straw hat, holding a small bag with both hands.

They walked over. "Riku,Axel, Roxas…So-ra." Kairi smiled. "Where's everyone-"

"YO!" Hayner waved, running towards them with the others in tow, the bus speeding behind them.

Pretty soon, this merry little group of square enix goodness was on the bus.

"I brought a volleyball and some other stuff." Hayner said, holding his bag.

"Good," Roxas answered. "There're nets and stuff set up on the smaller islands."

They got off the bus, and ran for the ferry. Since the ride was long, Kairi considered good seating to be the no. 1 priority. As they stood on the line, she pushed herself between Riku and Sora. If she could keep them from sitting together, she thought she could stop conversation.

What she didn't think about however, was who was going to sit next to her sister.

"H-Hey Naminé…" Roxas blushed. "Y-You wanna sit next to each other?"

"Oh, sure." Naminé smiled. "Each row has three seats."

Three seats. Count 'em three.

Riku sat between Kairi and Sora, the tall bishonen leaned his head on Sora's as if it was a pillow, and Kairi nearly blew up.

Meanwhile, Roxas sat between Namine and Axel. Let's just say he was very uncomfortable.

When the Ferry finally stopped at the island, everyone seemed overjoyed to get off.

"Okay." Kairi said. "Everyone start setting up! Sora you take those bags over there."

Sora, being a guy, didn't mind the heavy labor. As everyone setup blankets and umbrellas, Kairi had hi-_her _help everyone out. Just as Sora was about to sit down Kairi shouted 'Lunch Break!' and Sora found herself getting up again.

"I made stuff for everybody!" Kairi said. "Sora! Here you go!"

She handed him a sandwich.

'Wait a minute…Kairi doesn't like me. Why would she give me food? Is it a peace offering? I like edible peace offerings!'

Afteer lunch, they all got up for a volleyball game. Sora had to hold back a little, they were split up by gender for some reason. After two games, Sora started to feel sick, and wandered away from the game. Riku, who had been sitting under an umbrella the whole time, watched him walk towards the town on the other side of the island.

"Namine, you look a little tired." Kairi smiled at her sister. "Why Don't you go sit with Riku?"

Naminé nodded and headed away from the game.

Kairi smirked to herself. 'Yes! My plan is working! With all that work she did, Sora's all sweaty! Plus I gave her that rancid egg salad sandwich! She should be barfing in the pubic bathroom by now! Ha ha! And now, Namine and Riku are all alone over there! Genius! I'm a genius! Ha ha ha ha haaaaaaa-'

"Kairi watch out!"

The ball hit her smack in the face.

The next thing she knew, Kairi was lying under the umbrella next to her sister.

"Huh? Where's Riku..?"

Namine put a ice pack on her head. "He went into town to find Sora."

Sora stumbled on the boardwalk, his flip flops snagging on bolts and screws the stuck out of the wood. 'Ugh…flip flops are evil…Shoulda put my sneakers back on…' His stomach made another weird noise. '….Nggh…What the hell was in that sandwich? It was evil…'

Suddenly, a group of boys stood in his path. Sora looked up. The bathroom wasn't too far away. "What do you want?"

"Hey there cutie? Wanna hang with us?"

"What decade is your speech from?" Sora muttered.

"Come with us." Another boy said. "We can have all sorts of fun."

"No thanks." Sora said. "I don't swing that way?"

"You're into chicks? That kinky."

"And hot." The second boy said.

" I know this other girl." The third guy said. "The three of us could work something out."

Before Sora could protest, he felt someone's arm encircle his waist, and lean their chin on his head. "Sorry Gentlemen." Riku smirked. "This girl is taken."

Sora looked up. "Ri…Ri…."

Riku looked down. "Hm?"

"!"

Sora tossed his cookies on the boardwalk.

He entered the unisex public bathroom and continued his puke fest in the toilet.

Riku had walked away.

'I bet he thinks I'm really cute now…' Sora thought to himself. Then he felt someone massaging circles into his back, and he finished throwing up.

" Are you alright?" Riku handed him a towel and a bottle of water.

Sora blushed. "I'm fine…." He stumbled, and Riku caught him.

"Maybe I should carry you back."

Sora road piggyback as they headed back to the beach. "Your brother Leon is here." Riku said. Sora only mumbled something in response.

When they returned to the beach, Roxas ran up to them. "Sora!? Are you alright?'

"Mmhm…" Sora jumped off Riku's back and sat on a towel. "Just peachy."

In the distance, Sora saw Leon and Seifer trying to kill each other with volleyballs.

Some time passed and Sora wandered away from the towel. Sitting on his knees, he played with the sand. "Hey Riku. Wanna help me make a sand castle?"

'A sand castle?' Riku thought to himself. 'When was the last time I did that?' He recalled his last visit to the Islands. He was only eight, and his family was visiting the Shinra paradise resort. He was sickly and confined to his room. He spent the whole vacation under the covers with the lights off. One day, someone had entered his room. It was a small brown haired boy, asking if he had seen his brother.

"_We're playing hide and seek." The boy had said. "Did you see him? He looks like me."_

_Riku squinted at him in the dim light. "No….I haven't seen him."_

"_Aw…" The boy scratched his head. "It looks like I'll lose again. Oh well, you wanna play with us?"_

"_I can't."_

"_What?"_

"_I cant leave this room. It's too bright out there."_

"_Too bright? You mean outside the room?"_

"_Outside period. I can't take it."_

"_Hmm….Oh! That means you haven't even been to the beach! Don't tell me you haven't been!"_

"_I haven't."_

"_Oh…" He looked sad. "That's terrible! That means you never made a sand castle here! You have to make a sand castle!"_

"_I can't." He was getting annoyed. "It's too bright."_

"_You Don't have to go out there!"_

"_What?"_

"_We can build one in here! Yeah! It's totally work!"_

"_What are you-"_

"_Don't move okay? I'm gonna go find some stuff to make a sand castle!"_

_A hour passed. Riku took a short nap, and then-_

"_Ngh..Ngh!"_

_Riku opened his eyes to see the boy again, this time coming through the door with a large red wagon full of sand. "See! Here we go! I gots pails and stuff too! Now you can make a sand castle!"_

_Riku sat up in bed. "You did that for me?"_

"_Of course! While you're here you should have as much fun as you can! So, you gotta build one!" He handed Riku a shovel. "Here! I brought some water too, so It'll stick better. Huh? Why are you crying?"_

"_No one…" Riku wiped the tears away. "Has ever been that nice to me."_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight: Let's have some fun this beat is sick I wanna take a ride on y-Wait, WHAT! Stop playing Lady Gaga so loud in class!

_Riku opened his eyes to see the boy again, this time coming through the door with a large red wagon full of sand. "See! Here we go! I gots pails and stuff too! Now you can make a sand castle!"_

_Riku sat up in bed. "You did that for me?"_

"_Of course! While you're here you should have as much fun as you can! So, you gotta build one!" He handed Riku a shovel. "Here! I brought some water too, so It'll stick better. Huh? Why are you crying?"_

"_No one…'"Riku wiped the tears away. "Has ever been that nice to me."_

"_Huh?"_

Riku sat next to Sora, helping her shape the sand that she seemed so fascinated with. Roxas saw them in the distance and considered joining, but it looked more like a two person project to him, so he stayed out of it. Hayner and Pence announced that the Barbeque was done, so they all sat down for dinner.

…...

Roxas was in his room. I t was night time, and they had just come back form the beach. His mind was still there. "Namine looked cute in that sun dress." He could picture her smiling, laying out towels, wading her feet in the water, playing beach ball-

His door opened. "Woksass!" Sora said. He stood in the doorway in flip flops, shorts and a gender neutral hoodie.

"What's up Zowah?" Roxas answered.

"I'm going to the store. Want anything?"

"Sea salt cream soda."

" 'Kay." He closed the door behind him.

Roxas looked at the clock. "It's almost 12, why is he shopping?"

Sora shivered in the cool night air. The stars twinkled above as he stared in awe. Before moving in with Roxas he'd lived in the city where he couldn't see the stars. He entered the 7-Kwik-eleven mart, and picked up several items. It was silent when he left, the only sound was the hum of the neon sign.

The only thing Sora could hear was music through his headphones which is why he jumped when someone tapped him form behind.

Sora turned. "Riku?"

Riku towered over him, looking irritated. "What are you doing out this late?"

"Midnight snack run? I'm hungry."

That seemed to annoy Riku even more. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Uh…one something?"

"Exactly! You could get snatched up by a black van or something!"

'For a impromptu rave or something? Or does he mean…Oh yeah… Whoops. Girls don't belong outside this late.'

"Come on." Riku moved next to him. "I'll walk you home."

Sora nodded. "Okay…"

They began walking.

"Hey Riku."

"Yes?"

"What're _you_ doing out this late?"

"Nothing."

"Is that why you're always tired?"

"….I have…insomnia."

"Then go play video games. You shouldn't be out this late either."

(The fan girls will get you. Lol)

"I guess."

They walked in silence until meeting Roxas at the front door.

"Sora! Uh, Hey Riku. Sora, you left your phone here. I was gonna go look for you."

"Sorry." Sora sang. She turned. "Thanks Riku. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight Sora. Roxas." He turned and left.

Roxas and Sora returned inside after watching him turn the corner.

"Riku walked you home?" Roxas said, opening a can of soda.

"Uh huh." Sora yawned.

"Maybe I should have gone to the store with you…"

"Hm?"

Class mulled on as usual the next day until lunch time.

"Hey guys!" Kairi said, raising her fork. "We just got GuitarRockBand Hero with the mix table extension pack! You wanna try it out after school?"

"Cool." Hayner said.

"Sounds fun." Olette chimed in.

"Actually," Kairi turned her attention to Riku. "I need some help setting the thing up, so I thought you could help, Riku…" She smiled. "Since I heard you're really good at it."

"I guess." Riku yawned. Namine looked away in the other direction.

"I love GuitarRockBandHero!" Roxas said. "Me and Sora play it all the time!"

"Oh." Namine said. "What do you play Roxas?"

"Keyboard, Mix table, and Drums. I'm working on my guitar."

"That's really cool. What about you Sora?"

Sora stopped making bubbles in her milk. "Uh…Guitar, and Singing-"

Roxas kicked her under the table.

"B-But I don't sing that well…" Sora sank in her chair a little. Truth be told, he loved to sing, and played the guitar. He had hopes of starting a band with his brothers one day. But that was the guy Sora. The girl Sora couldn't sing. Not with that voice.

"Then it's settled." Kairi said, stabbing her salad. "Riku will come over and set it up today, and we'll all play tomorrow. Any Objections?"

"I could help if you want." Roxas said. "If you have all the instruments, that could take awhile with just one person."

Kairi couldn't think of a objection to that. "Fine."

End of Chapter.

TrixterDark: SORRY! I got a job and had finals. TCH. Stupid job keeps getting in the way of everything. NO, I don't have my priorities screwed up...next chap will include singing! yay singing!


	9. Chapter 9: Ignorance is your new best

Chapter nine: On the radio, wa-oh-oh-wait. This is the chapter that has foreshadowing!

It was the day of Kairi's little get together, and Sora was more than excited. He was practically skipping on the way to the Shiro house. They all walked in pairs, and he/she found herself next to Riku.

"Heeeeeeeeey Riku! Do you like GRBH?"

"It's okay, but something tells me you _love_ GRBH."

Sora turned slightly pink and smiled. "Guilty as charged!"

He grabbed Riku's arm. " Come, let us skip to our destination!"

Riku chuckled at Sora's serious face. "Wha? Okay…"

Kairi turned around to see Riku and Sora arm-in-arm, skipping. Riku was cracking up while Sora looked as if she were going to war.

'That. Little. ARRRRRRRRGH!' She grabbed Namine's hand. "Nami, when we get home you and Riku will sing a ballad that will scorch the heavens!"

They arrived at Kairi's house and to her dismay, played rock-paper-scissors to see who would go first. Kairi wound up on vocals. Sora tried not to look upset.

"Okay, who wants guitar?"

Sora raised her hand. "Lead!"

"Who's on drums?"

"I'll do it." Roxas said.

"Okay." Kairi scrolled down the ssong list. "What're we playing? Oh, I know-Ignorance!"

(Sorry if you don't like that song.)

Roxas and Sora took their instruments. Kairi grabbed the mic, and the git ready to play.

"Start me off Roxas." Sora said.

"Right." Roxas swiveled the drums sticks around and knocked them together. "One! Two! One two three four!"

Sora came in on the guitar and was followed by Roxas on drums. They built up in volume, then toning down for Kairi's vocals.

"_If I'm bad person, you don't like me, I guess I'll make my own way…" _She paused. "_It's a circle, a mean cycle, I can't excite you anymore.."_ She shot her audience a dirty look, and received some concerned stares. _" Where's your gavel? Your Jury? What's my offence this time?" _She glanced at Sora.

" Wow!" Pence said, "Sora, Roxas, you guys are already playing on perfect!"

"_You're not a judge but if you're gonna judge me-Well, sentence me to another life-"_

Sora and Roxas decided to stop holding back.

"_Don't wanna hear your sad songs I don't wanna feel your pain-When you swear it's all my fault, 'Cause you know we're not the same." _As the points racked up, it was clear they were on a different level than most players.

"_No, we're not the same, oh, we're not the same…"_

_"We're the friends who stuck together-"_ Kairi looked at her sister.

_"We wrote our names in blood, But I guess you can't accept that the change is good-Is good, it's goooooood."_ Sora struck a few chords, and the chorus started….

"_Well, you treat me just like-" _Kairi looked at Leon. _"...another stranger Well, it's nice to meet you, sir I guess I'll go, I best be on my way out."_

"_You treat me just like another stranger…Well, it's nice to meet you, sir-I guess I'll go, I best be on my way out…"_

"_Ignorance is your new best friend, Ignorance is your new best friend…"_

"_This is the best thing that could've happened," _The music was like an outlet for Kairi's feelings._ "Any longer and I wouldn't have made it. It's not a war," _She thought of Her sister and her rival. _"no, it's not a rapture, I'm just a person but you can't take it-"_

"_The same tricks that, that once fooled me." _Her attention was on Sora again.

"_They won't get you anywhere… I'm not the same kid from your memory. Well, now I can fend for myself…"_

"_Don't wanna hear your sad songs" _Sora's eyes were on the guitar.

"_I don't wanna feel your pain-" _He'd gotten lost in the music.

"_When you swear it's all my fault." _The same had happened to Roxas.

"_'Cause you know we're not the same-" _Kairi's feelings were pouring out the lyrics

"_No! we're not the same, oh, we're not the same…"_

"_Yeah, we used to stick together…We wrote our names in blood_

_But I guess you can't accept that the change is good_

_It's good, it's goooood."_

_They'd passed 'Expert' along time ago._

"_Well, you treat me __**just**__ like another stranger…Well, it's nice to meet you, sir_

_I guess I'll go, I best be on my way out…."_

"_You treat me __**just **__like another stranger…Well, it's nice to meet you, sir, I guess I'll go, I best be on my way out…"_

"_Ignorance is your new best friend_

_Ignorance is your new best friend_

_Ignorance is your new best friend_

_Ignorance is your new best friend"_

Sora strummed the fake guitar with proficiency. Had it been another song, he might've been able to hold back. Roxas' hands moved like lightning on the drums, the console had a hard time keeping up with him.

"_Well, you treat me __**just **__like another stranger…Well, it's nice to meet you, sir, I guess I'll go, I best be on my way out…"_

"_You treat me __**just**__ like another stranger…Well, it's nice to meet you, sir_

_I guess I'll go, I best be on my way out…."_

No! A song chapter is not cheating! I'll have you know I just got on vacation! That's right! I didn't have a summer vacation! I was in school this WHOLE time. Don't worry, next is….A dance! Hurray for dances! And going in the school after dark! What? Those sound cliché? Ha, you have no idea who you're messing with….

_Riku: I didn't do much this time except skip. Oh well, that was fun. All you good little children go out and buy birth by sleep okay? It's fun. Don't get upset about the lack of Sora…Once you watch the game's opening movie, well…_

_TrixterDark: THE OPENING MOVIE CONVINCED ME! GO PLAY THAT beep! SERIOUSLY, GO WATCH THE OPENING MOVIE! PAY ATTENTION TO EVERY DETAIL OF IT! ONCE YU SEE 'IT' IT SHOULD CONVINCE YOU!_

_Riku: The writer was very captivated by one thing in the video. I think many were._


	10. Now, THIS is halloween!

_Chapter ten: It's October! Tender Loplings everywhere, life's no fun without a good scare. Ten ten wins!_

A chill arose in the air. Sora put on the pink plaid sweater for her fall uniform. He greeted Roxas with a morning hug. "It's Octoberrrrr!" He shivered for effect.

"Uh huh." Roxas smiled. "And don't you look _fabulous_."

"Shut yer trap."

They left and headed for school.

Breakfast had changed along with the season, there was pumpkin spice tea, hot chocolate, and cinnamon rolls along with other goodies added to the menu. To Sora's surprise when they neared the table, Riku was already there, drinking something out of a thermos.

"Morning." He smiled at her. "Sora, Roxas."

"You're up early again." Sora said, pouring icing on a cinnamon roll. "Trying for a fresh start?"

"You could say that." He took a long drink from his thermos again. "You guys were really good on Saturday."

"Thanks." Roxas grinned. " We play _a lot_." They couldn't tell Riku that they were actually on the development team for the game.

"Yoohoo! Morning!" They turned to see Kairi and Namine waving. Kairi was wearing a pink school sweater with white argyle print, while Namine wore a white sweater with pink argyle print. They both had a bow in their hair, the opposite color of their sweater.

"Wow," Roxas blushed a little. "You…" He looked away from Namine. "You guys look nice today."

"Thank you." They gave him a double smile.

After breakfast, or in Kairi and Namine's case a bottled water and piece of bread, the bell rang and headed for class.

Their first period became a study break. Desks and chairs shuffled around the room as students broke up into cliques to chat. Sora found himself eavesdropping on two boys.

" So then I got through the zuzu forest and captured a tohou!"

"I found a Etna in there once."

Sora couldn't help himself. "Are you guys talking about Lolimon?"

"Yeah…" They seemed confused.

"I love that game!"

"But you're…"

Sora cocked her head to the side, confused. "But I'm what?"

Incredibly attractive to boys, that's what.

Soon she and the two boys were talking about the game. Riku awoke from his morning nap to the sound of Sora's laughter. After staring at her for a few minutes, he went back to sleep. Kairi, Namine, Roxas, and Axel were chatting about upcoming events.

"So, do you ever go to any school games?" Roxas asked.

"I do." Kairi spoke. "But they're really boring. Blitzball is kinda okay, but the jocks all have one track minds. Have you ever met Titus?"

Class resumed and they spoke again during lunch.

"So….talking about school events, you guys going to the fall costume dance?"

" A costume dance?" Sora asked. "You mean like for Halloween?"

"Yeah." Namine said. "They call it that 'cause they want to be universal and stuff, but it's a Halloween dance."

"Oh…that sounds like fun." Sora thought dreamily. In all honesty, he was thinking about candy and costumes, not dancing and boys.

On the way back to class, Hayner pulled Roxas aside.

"Hey Roxas."

"Yeah?"

"I wanna ask you something…" He looked flustered. "Uh…um…"

"What is it?"

" Do you think your sister is going with anyone to the dance?"

"Wh-" Roxas was caught completely by surprise. "O-Oh…I doubt she has anybody in mind…"

"Really?" Hayner looked relieved. "'Cause I kinda thought she'd want to go with Riku."

"No...no. I don't think so." 'Sora and Riku? Really? It has a funny ring to it..'

"Seriously! Thanks!" He smiled and ran to catch up to Pence and Olette. Olette looked a little disappointed.

Roxas shrugged it off. 'I'll just warn Sora, he'll come up with an excuse.'

And boy did he need one. Sora was asked out at least three times a week. However, each time he was the same thing would happen. It would go something like this:

Lovestruck boy: Sora, would you like to go to the dance-

Sora: Yeah I'm totally going! Are you going? I'll see you there!

And so, the month of October went slowly for Sora. Although, he was puzzled why so many people wanted to know if he was going to the dance. 'Maybe they want to know what costume I'm wearing so we don't clash…I should ask Kairi and Namine what they're doing, so they don't freak out if I'm wearing the same thing…'

Roxas was honestly surprised Sora was so oblivious. 'He's so cute sometimes.'

"Hey Woksass!" Sora said one afternoon, "Whaddaya wanna be for Halloween?"

"I don't know, Zowah…" They were still decorating for the season. The brothers were big on Halloween, so their house was surprisingly creepy.

Leon had come over that day. "You guys seem to be doing fine here."

"Squallll," Sora pouted. "Why don't you come stay with usssss?"

Leon rolled his eyes. "You know I can't do it, THEY might be watching. That'd be the last straw-us all together."

Sora looked upset, and Roxas shrugged it off.

"Whatever." Roxas said, fixing some spider webs. "I know, why don't we play some music?"

"_Play_?" Leon said. "I don't know, I don't have my guitar."

"We have a bass upstairs." Roxas said, getting off the couch. "I'll play the synthesizer."

"Vocals." Sora said, stretching. "I'd like to sing for once. And I'll play lead."

"Okay." Leon nodded. "Let's set up."

Sora hopped off the couch. "Jam session! Sweet! When was the last time we all played together?"

"Honestly?" Leon thought about it. "I don't think we have."

"Really?" Sora began moving the table. "All the more reason to make it something good! I have the perfect song!"

Two hours later, the three brothers were sprawled out on the couch. Sora was hanging off the side. "Squall…Make some smoresss."

"Get it yourself."

"Pwease Sqwalll?"

"Dear lord. I haven't heard you mangle my name like that in years."

"So you admit your name **is** Squall." Roxas smirked.

"Hush." He glared, then smiled. "Alright, you guys can call me that, just not at school."

"Kay." Sora leaned against Squall's left arm and Roxas snuggled up to his right.

They laughed and spoke in unison.

"Good night, big Bwozah."

Leon groaned, and they cracked up.

Sora woke up, birds were twittering and all that jazz. To his confusion, Roxas was lying next to him, with his thumb in his mouth. Leon's revenge. Sora looked over at the nightstand. Roxas' other hand had been placed in warm water. Rolling his eyes, he fixed his brother and checked the bed. 'At least he didn't pee in his pants. Squall's such a jerk sometimes.'

"Roxas." He shook him gently, "Time to wake up."

Roxas squirmed. "…."

"If you don't wake up, I'm going to take your picture, and send it to Namine."

Roxas didn't open his eyes. "Do it and die, cross dresser."

"Who do you think I'm cross dressing for?"

"Yourself? Oh wait, me. Your adorable little brother."

Sora pinched his cheek. "That's right cutie pie! Now let's go get dressed."

When they went downstairs, they found Squall in the kitchen. He was on the phone with his girlfriend. "Uh huh. A witch? Sounds like a weird dream…Selfie? Why? Seifer…."

Sora jumped on him from behind, and he nearly dropped the phone. "What the hell? No, no not you. My little br-sister…Yeah, she's such a guy sometimes."

After Breakfast they walked to the trolley.

"Why didn't you tell us you were spending the night?" Sora said, swinging his bag.

"I didn't decide to until you guys fell asleep." Leon said, as they boarded the trolley.

"Well, we still got to have breakfast together." Roxas spoke, watching the town go by.

Sora nodded. They got off and headed for class.

The day wore on until health class. Tifa yawned as a projector displayed a documentary on screen. Riku's family members were all gone, and he was squinting in the light.

"Ms. Lockhart, if you don't mind…" Riku spoke in a tired voice. "I'd like to go to the infirmary."

"Infirmary? Who talks like that?" TIfa said. "Yeah, okay. You can go. You'll need an escort." She looked around the room. "I think I'll pick….." a mischievous grin crossed her face. "Ms. Sora."

Sora, who was dozing off, nearly jumped. "Wh-wha! Oh...okay."

Roxas watched them exit the classroom. He thought about what Hayner had said. 'Riku and Sora? Really?'

Riku and Sora walked down the corridor. Riku was constantly rubbing his eyes, and Sora was watching him curiously.

"Did the projector hurt your eyes that much?"

"Mm hm…That concentration of light…it's a wonder I didn't go blind."

Sora looked up into Riku's eyes. "With a condition like that, you sound like a creature of the night."

Riku stopped walking. Once he realized Sora was joking, he started walking again.

He shrugged it off with a small smile. " Speaking of creatures of the night…Sora, do you plan on attending the-"

The lights went out.

The hallway they were in had no windows. Sora grabbed Riku's hand. He had done it out of habit, usually it was Roxas' hand, because he had a slight fear of the dark. Riku simply assumed _she_ was scared, and curled his fingers around hers.

"Don't worry." His eyes adjusted in the dark.

Sora blushed. "Oh-Um…I'm sorry…"

Riku chuckled lightly and led Sora towards the stairs. The loudspeaker crackled to life, and Xigbar's laughter could be heard.

"Oh lord…"Riku groaned. "Not another prank…"

The sound of rattling chains filled the air, followed by blood curdling screams. Ten dark hooded figures ran around the school campus, holding fake blood soaked weapons. Terrorizing teachers and students alike, they repeatedly yelled: "Bow to the organization!"

Riku and Sora walked down a flight of stairs and towards a source of light; a stained glass window. Sora peered out of it, as Riku held his head in his hands.

" Those are your family members right?"

Riku nodded slowly. "They always do stuff like this at this point in the year."

As funny as they thought their prank was, they weren't laughing when they all were booted from going to the school dance. The day before it, Dean Cid gave them a deal. If they worked custodial duty, they could attend.

Meanwhile, Roxas had spent the month trying to decide who to go with to the dance. His mind was clearly going with Sora, as a precaution to protect his twin from boys. However his adolescent heart wanted to be with Namine, and considered her to be the nicest prettiest girl in school.

He didn't need to worry over it too much because two weeks before it, Namine declared she wouldn't go with anyone. Instantly crushed, he pushed his focus back on Sora.

"So Zowah, let's go to the dance together!"

"Mm...Okay." Sora was smashing candy corn pieces into a brownie and adding whipped cream. Roxas decided not to lecture him on how that was NOT a proper lunch. In the hallway, Olette had backed Hayner into a corner.

"So…" She said, visibly angry. "Going to the dance with anyone!"

"Uh…Not yet." Hayner scratched his head. "I was gonna ask Sora though…"

She tapped her foot. "You couldn't think of anyone else to ask?"

"No…not really. Namine is off limits, and asking Kairi is suicide."

"You couldn't think of anyone besides them!"

"Nope."

"I see." She folded her arms. "Well then. See you at the dance Hayner!" She stormed off, leaving him confused. "Hey So-ra!" she screeched at the cross-dressing boy.

"Hm?" He looked up at her.

"Got a date for the dance?"

"Uh…Well, I'm going with Roxas."

"Really! That's awesome!" She skipped away happily.

The dance. Unlike most high schools that use a Gym, Twilight Academy had its own ballroom. Fake cobwebs hung around the dimly lit room, fog covered the dance floor. Halloween themed music filled the air and strobe lights flickered as the students boogied on the dance floor.

Kairi and Namine were in the center of the floor. They had dressed as the red queen and white queen. Kairi's outfit left little to the imagination, the shirt barely passed her underwear. Namine, however was in a full ball gown. They were dancing and chatting with their friends when the music selection shifted.

"_Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange_?"

At the top of the stairs was an oddly dressed couple…

Sora and Roxas had appeared. Sora was dressed as Sally, realistic stitches adorned his arms and face, His dress was long and tattered. His skin had been painted a ghostly bluish white. Roxas was Jack, the Skeleton of course. His suit was an exact replica of Jack's. He wore a mask of the skeleton's likeness. Underneath it he had painted his face white and had several bags under his eyes, and black full contacts.

All eyes were on them as they walked down the steps. Riku and Axel stood at the bottom. " Hi!" Sora waved to them enthusiastically. When they got to the bottom, the two branched off in pairs.

"That was some entrance you made." Riku said. He was dressed in a off white shirt with pants and boots, making his outfit unclear. "Perfect music and everything."

"Yeah." Sora tugged him towards a table covered with candy. "Cream Pumpkins! Yes!"

Roxas and Axel made their way to the Shirou sisters.

"Is that you Roxas?" Namine pointed. "You're outfit is so cool!

Roxas lifted his mask, revealing his ghoulish face. He hoped his blush didn't show through the paint. "Th-Thanks. You guys look awesome-as usual."

Namine giggled, and Kairi looked him over. 'Hn…It seem this Jesse McCartney wannabe has the hots for Nami. This could only mean…' Her eyes trailed to Sora who was chatting with Riku at the candy table. 'HE'S A DIVERSION! SORA'S PUSHING HER BROTHER ON MY SISTER SO SHE CAN HAVE RIKU!' She took a breath and smirked. 'Oh, I've got your game Sora.' Her evil look scared passerby. 'And I'm going to win!'

I hope you enjoyed this jumbo chapter! Because it's the tenth chapter. In the tenth month. That means it should at least be ten pages right!

Sora: That makes perfect sense!

Happy Halloween everyone! I'm gonna be the mad hatter…er hattress! Who you gonna be?


	11. Ten point five, the halloween dance cont

_Chapter ten point five! 73h 3x7r4 7r347._

Sora watched couples gravitate across the dance floor. Teachers slipped around, chatting and pulling others to the side. Bored, he slipped away from all the conversation and stood in the corner. Twice he saw Hayner walk in his direction and twice he was stopped by Olette. His gaze traveled upwards to the streamers and fake cobwebs, the occasional moving strobe light. For a second the light was almost blinding, and th eloud speaker crackled.

"Attention Twilight Academy students!" Dean Cid stood on stage next to the dj, who was also named Cid. (*) "The Queen and King of the Costume Dance have been decided."

Sora stopped leaning on the wall. There was a costume dance? How could this night be so wonderful and yet horribly cliché ?

"The runner ups for King and Queen-Riku as himself, and a tie for Kairi and Namine Shirou the wicked witch, and Glenda the good!"

There was applause and chatter, and Sora clapped for them.

Tifa grabbed the microphone. "And now, your King and Queen..." She paused for dramatic effect."the Hoshino twins! Roxas and Sora as Jack skellington and Sally!"

Spotlights swung around the room, and landed on Roxas, who was heading for the bathroom at the time, and Sora alone in the corner.

"Now that I think about it..." Tifa scratched her head. "That sounds sort of weird..."

"Oh well!" Said the dj Cid.

"That's right." Agreed, the older Cid. "Come get your crowns and have the customary dance!"

The two boys walked toward each other through the crowd, with embarassed looks on their faces. They met up at the stage. Roxas took his mask off, and a black glittery crown was placed on his head. Sora sported a matching tiara.

"Well, sis." Roxas said, holding out his hand.

"R-Right." Sora nodded.

A Slow waltz played, filled with creepy noises and the twins glided across the dancefloor for several minutes.

After the song ended they seperated again, and Sora disappeared into the crowd while Roxas was surrounded with girls and guys alike.

Namine managed to get his attention, and he turned pink.

"Hi...again." Roxas said, feeling like a giant target, thanks to the crown.

"Congratulations." Namine said smiling. "But stay away from my sister for awhile, she might explode."

"Oh, heh heh. Okay." Roxas studied his shoes.

Namine couldn't help but ask. "You wanna dance?"

"Sure!"

Sora found his way onto the balcony. He of course blinked in surprise when he realized the place had one, and wondered if it had been a castle in a former life. He shivered and mentally complained about his dress, wondering why Tim burton would ever think of such a thing. A cape was suddenly dropped on his shoulders and he looked up. Riku stood behind him, his hair, shining in the moonlight and eyes looking even more blue than usual. Busy staring, Sora didn't even hear what he had said.

"What?"

"I said, are you cold?"

"Oh...n-no! I was, but then you... um..."

Sora decided to shut up before his brain stopped forming sentences all together.

"So," Riku said looking at the sky. "Mind if I join you? It's a little too noisy in there."

"Sure." Sora looked ahead and yawned.

"Tired?"

"Yeah. I've got the metabolism of a ten year old. I've got half a mind to go sleep in one of the classrooms upstairs."

"Why don't you just tell Roxas you want to go home?"

Sora turned and looked at him. "Because If I do, Roxas will want to leave with me, and I don't wan't that. He's actually having fun in there."

"Want me to take you home then?"

Sora sensed nothing extra in the words. "I can't ask you to do that."

"Sure you could. Only takes a few words."

"Nope. I can stay up a little longer..." He yawned again, and pulled Riku's cape around him tighter.

"You're sure?"

"...No. Take me home."

Soon the two were exiting the school when they found Demyx and Axel cracking up outside.

"Hey guys!"Demyx played the sitar. "Where ya going?"

"Dropping Sora home." Riku said, irritated. "Must you play that thing?"

"You're just jealous of myyyy skilllls." Demyx sang along with the melody, and Axel chuckled.

Sora waved goodbye to tehm and they turned the crossed the street.

"HEY RIKU!" Axel yelled, and the sivlerhaired one turned around. Axel and Demyx yelled in unison: "DON'T TRY ANYTHING FUNNY!"

Demyz played a familar love song in his sitar and they errupted into laughter again.

Riku and Sora continued to walk.

Sora had to ask. "Are they...drunk?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "I wish. They're like that ALL the time."

The cid next to ff7's Cid is Cid from Final Fantasy Unlimited. I never really understood that show.


	12. The oldest stories are still new to

Chapter 12: The oldest stories are still new to those who have not read them yet.

Winter seemed to be coming in full effect after the fall dance. The temperature dropped, and its was reported that for the first time in decades, Twilight town might receive snow. While those who lived in the town were overjoyed, Sora was a little less enthusiastic. He had grown up in the city. And spent its chilly winters indoors.

Yuffie and Aerith appeared once again to help with his winter attire, providing him with red and pink hats, scarves, and fuggs.

He frowned when he saw the boots. "I don't like Fuggs. It looks like I stole some Eskimo's shoes."

"But Sora," Aerith said. "They're really popular, especially in Twilight Town. "

Sora rolled his eyes. "So?"

"So!" Yuffie shook her head. "Sora, you have to keep up your image!"

Since the school dance, Sora had become increasingly popular, putting him on the level as the Shirou twins and Riku's family.

"Wh'ever. If I gotta wear boots, they'll be combat boots."

Despite his arguing, Sora showed up at school the next day in Fuggs.

He had breakfast with his friends as usual. The buffet had changed once more, adding hot chocolate and Egg nog. Sora filled half the cup with hot chocolate and the other half with Marshmallows and sat down.

Looking at his gaggle of friends, Sora realized something.

"Hey. Where's Riku?"

"No idea." Hayner said.

Axel looked up from his bacon. "Actually, He said he wasn't feeling well. Maybe he'll show up later."

And he did, right before lunch in fact.

"Sorry teach. There was….um…" Riku paused to make up an excuse. " I fell down a rabbit hole. Yeah, that's it."

He walked to his seat, where he received a confused look from Sora, Roxas, and Axel.

At lunch, his friends questioned him.

"Riku." Kairi said, drinking her lunch-water. "You've been gone all day. What happened?"

"I wasn't feeling too hot this morning." Riku's eyes were on the table.

Sora reached over and placed a hand on his forehead. "You feel kind of cold. You wanna get some soup?"

Riku said nothing and grabbed Sora's wrist, taking in her touch. "I don't need anything…But this."

Before anyone could react to this development, Tifa appeared with a cordless microphone.

"Hello students of Twilight Academy! Here I am, live in person with afternoon announcements!" She walked to the middle of the dining hall.

"Our Blitzball team, the twilight moogles is having a game on Friday at four. Come support the team! And in other news-We're having another dance! Sadie Hawkins style, it's the winter solstice benefit dance! Our theme is girls ask guys. Put your heart into this ladies! Oh, by the way, proceeds go to the ASPCA. Buy a ticket, save a puppy! Check announcement boards or the school website for more details. That's it for today!"

With that, Tifa exited the room, both Cids walking behind her.

Rinoa laughed and touched Leon on the shoulder. "Sounds like fun. Wanna go?"

"To the dance or the game?" Leon said. He was staring at his brothers.

"The dance. What's wrong?"

"I think…" He continued to study them. "That guy over there just hit on my sister."

Riku took his ritual nap, and lunch resumed.

"Another dance?" Pence shook his head. "Where does the time go?"

"I know." Roxas said, looking miserable.

Sora drank his soup. '….Not again. The last one was fun but, really? Another dance? What is this, Saved by the Bell?' His eyes trailed back to Riku, who was sound asleep. 'And, uh…What was that before?' He felt his face grow hot, and shook it several times.

School was quiet for Sora, until health class rolled around.

Hello Guys!" Tifa looked less enthusiastic. Today, we're going to talk about…' She turned on the smart board. "STI!STD! Sexually transmitted diseases and _infections_ as they are now called. How you get them, what to do to prevent them, and what to do if you get them. The head of the board wants to make sure this stuff gets drilled into your heads, so, we're going to have a bit of role play. I'm going to break you up into groups of two, and then you must perform a skit of what would happen if you had the infection, b) your partner has it, or c) You want to take steps to prevent it, and you must convince your partner."

She held up a old tissue box. "When I call you, come up here and take a name out of this. Take this sheet packet on Std's and create a skit/dialogue thing. Don't worry, you can perform it at your seat if you feel uncomfortable up here. You have twenty minutes to come with it."

She began to call names, and Roxas sank in his chair.

'Oh man, can this get any worse? What if I get called and pick a guy? I don't want people to think I'm, not that there's anything wrong with, I just-'

"Roxas Hoshino."

Roxas jumped up and trudged to the front of the room. "Yessss." He put his hand in the box, unfolded the paper and spoke aloud with surprise. "Namine….Sh-Shirou?"

Namine waved at him form her seat.

He waved back, mortified. 'I don't know if I'm happy or scared about this!'

"Sora Hoshino."

Sora stood up and walked to the front. 'This isn't that bad. It's just a skit.'

He/She reached in and took out a paper. Unfolding it he shrugged. "Riku. Just Riku."

Riku stirred and rubbed his eyes. "Hmm?"

Sora walked back over to her chair and proceeded to push their desks together. "C'mon Riku, wake up. All we gotta do is write now, and perform it later. I promise I'll let you take a nap after we write it."

"Mmhm.." He sat up and yawned. "Alright."

Meanwhile Roxas was staring hard at his notebook. "So, what should we talk about?"

"I don't know." Namine said, twirling her hair. She looked at the papers. "Herpes?"

Roxas shuddered. "Ew. Sounds like Harpies."

Namine suddenly seemed angry. "You think its funny that I have herpes!"

Roxas was shocked. "Wh-What! I'm so sorry!"

She laughed. "I was just kidding! See, isn't this easy?"

He chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I guess it is."

Class continued until the skits began, and Sora was called.

They stood up walked to the front of the room.

Riku stood across from him. "So, Sora." He looked a little serious. "I regret to inform you…." A evil grin crossed his face. "THAT I HAVE CRABS!"

"WHAT!" Sora was confused. For the past twenty minutes they had been talking about HIV. But He figured he'd go along with it. "What do you mean you have crabs!" He paused. "They're from that girl at that party, aren't they! You-"

"I told you I didn't sleep with her!"

"First, of all, they're not crabs, they're called Pubic Lice! And if you didn't , where the hell did they come from?"

"How come you know so much about crabs?"

"'caused I paid attention in health class! Cheater!"

"Don't you throw that in my face! And I didn't cheat on you! Maybe I got them from a dog!"

"You cheated with a dog!"

"Now you're being ridiculous! How do you know I didn't get them form that place you send the laundry to!"

"Don't you dare blame the Laundromat! How long have you had them?"

"I don't know, two days?"

"Did you see a gynecologist? You have to treat them!"

"I don't have health insurance….?"

"We can go to a clinic, you can get a prescription and pick up the shampoo form a drug store!"

"Okay, Let's go!"

"Uh…" Sora scratched her head. "Th-the end?"

The class applauded, half of them cracking up.

"Good work?" Tifa said, writing something down. "You got the message across?"

When they returned to their seats, Riku started laughing. "Ha ha, Good Improv."

Sora slumped in chair. "Oh man, you almost scared me." He smiled. "But I guess it was kinda fun."

Well, that was something, right? I'm in college now, so I miss things like gym and health class.

Riku: In case you were wondering, I DON'T have crabs.

Sora: Pubic Lice.

Riku: Please stop saying that.

Look forward to a Riku increase!

Riku: More about me? Sweet!

And shocking revelations!

Sora: It's not my secret right?


	13. Who the heck is sadie hawkins!

Chapter 13: Who the heck is Sadie Hawkins anyway?

Sora's class met in the school's third gymnasium. Barret stood before them with a clipboard. "Okay, Winter term has started. We cant have gym outside anymore, so now we'll have…." He sighed. "Dance class."

There was a flurry of chatter and mixed reactions around the students and he raised is hand, shushing them.

"The principal and the school believe that all Twilight Academy students should be well rounded. Therefore, we're having a experimental dance class. Just think of it as practice for the upcoming dance. We'll be going over the classic stuff, the Waltz for today, and all that over stuff later. Don't like it? Get out." He smiled. " Now, let's break you up into groups of two."

Kairi saw Riku spacing out in the corner and tapped her sister's shoulder. "Go for it Namine!"

Namine swallowed and nodded, but then stopped when she saw Roxas scratching his head and looking around. Their eyes met and he blushed. A smile crossed her face. 'On second thought….' "Hey Roxas!"

Sora looked around. 'I'm not upset about the dancing. But really? With another guy?'

Riku watched Sora from the corner of his eye. She had three guys slowly closing in on her. His family members watched him. He nodded at them. Marlene intercepted the first, Pence. Marluxia pushed Olette into the second, Hayner. Demyx patted the last one on the arm, Tidus. Just as Riku was about to make his move, Axel got there first.

"Hey Sora! Wanna be my dance partner?"

Sora shrugged. "Okay."

Axel waved at Riku form behind Sora, and received a death glare in return.

"Okay class. You all have partners? It's time to waltz."

Roxas and Namine slowly waltzed around the room. Roxas spent the whole time looking at her feet, trying not to step on them.

"So…" Namine said, trying to strike up conversation. "The Sadie Hawkins dance…"

"Yeah, that." He continued to stare at the floor. "It's sounds kinda cool, I hop everyone has a good time."

Namine frowned. "You say it like you're not going."

"Yeah? Well, I'm probably not. I really doubt any girl would ask me."

"Oh really…" She watched Sora step on Axel's foot and apologize.

"I mean, it's not like I'm cool like Riku, or good looking like Leon-"

"Roxas Hoshino, would you go to the dance with me?"

He stopped dancing. "Excuse me?"

"Well, if you'd rather someone else asked you-"

"No! I'll go with you Namine!"

"Well, great. I'll pick you up at eight." She smiled and he laughed.

Meanwhile, Kairi was dancing with Pence, who was making eyes at her while she watched Riku who was somehow stuck with Marluxia. Riku ignored her gaze, and kept his eyes on Sora, who seemed to be having way too much fun with Axel.

"Marluxia…" Riku looked up at his dance partner.

"Yes?"

"Take that rose out of your mouth. Now."

"Yes, Riku."

After class Riku started to wander the corridors. He noticed girls were standing all over the place, whispering in packs or huddled alone in corners. And that's when he realized-

He was a target.

"Riku will you go to the dance with-"

"Riku I was wondering if you-"

"Riku I think we should-"

"Riku! Let's boogie down with our bad selves at the-"

Riku spent the next period hiding in a corner of the library. He was usually full of excuses, but had never had to say to this many girls before. He was about to take a nap when someone walked up to him.

"Riku? What're you doing down there?"

He looked up. "Sora?"

He/She nodded and Riku yanked her by the arm down to his level.

"Wh-"

"Shh." He didn't let go of her hand. "Why're you in the Sociology section?"

"We have a report for class. The one you did not go to. Why're you in here?"

"I'm…hiding?"

"Ooh! Did you see a statue move or uncover a government secret?"

"What?" He laughed. "No. These girls keep trying to ask me out."

"Ah." Sora nodded. "That's really terrrrrrrrrible."

Riku crossed his arms. "It is! I can't even walk down the hall without being mobbed!"

"So? It could be worse. You could've seen a statue move."

"Have you ever seen a statue move?"

"Yeah. At least I thought I did once. Well, I'm just going to take this book-" He picked one from the shelf. "And I'll see you later…When, you're not hiding."

Riku was beginning to see how odd his behavior was. "Wait."

"Hm?"

"I'm coming with you."

Sora took the book out and they left. As they walked down the hall, boys waved at Sora from all angles.

"Hey Sora!"

"Wassup Sora?"

"Nice to see you, Sora."

"SORA! I wanna have YOUR babies!"

Sora laughed and waved at them as they walked.

"Is it just me, or is everyone suddenly really friendly?"

"Friendly…" Riku thought, glaring at them. "Yeah, that's the word."

"Hey Sora!" Roxas waved from the front door. "You got the book? Let's leave."


	14. And he makes his move

Chapter 14:And the silver haired bishie makes his move.

With the dance approaching Riku only had one thing on his mind. And that thing was a cross-dressing boy. He woke up on time, washed up, and headed downstairs. The house was dark as usual, and he couldn't sense that anyone else was awake. Just as he reached the door he heard a voice.

"So, we're leaving now?"

It was Axel.

Riku nodded and they left the house. The two boys caught the trolley and took it one stop to Twilight Academy. They headed straight for breakfast. Roxas and Sora were getting in line for breakfast.

Sora waved as they approached. "Good Morning!"

"Good Morning Sora." Riku said, and nodded at her brother. "Roxas."

"Good Morning guys." Roxas said, and then frowned at his sister. "Sora! I doubt you need to eat five pancakes!"

Riku raised an eyebrow at that. He wasn't sure why Roxas was obsessed with his sister's dietary needs.

As the day continued, Riku found it harder to turn down the girls asking him to the dance. He stayed up in all his classes, and dashed out of the room whenever the bell rang.

At lunch he wasn't tired at all, so he stared at Sora. Sora looked back at him several times, but didn't seem to be bothered by his gaze.

Riku sighed in irritation. Just what was this game they were playing? He thought it was painfully obvious he was interested in her. As for her feelings, he was uncertain. And it was driving him crazy!

It was the final class of the day. As Riku dozed off, he heard Hayner talking to Pence.

"So...you'll help me get Sora to ask me to the dance?"

"Sure thing. She's really nice."

Wait.

Riku forced his eyes to stay open a little longer. Sora was really nice, Pence was her friend. It was highly possible that she would be convinced to go with Hayner.

Riku sat up in his seat.

Sora and Hayner? Sora Payner? No, he was thinking to far ahead. He couldn't afford to wait anymore. He would have to make the first move. And yet…there was still…

Namine Shirou.

He pretended not to notice , but he knew what Kairi was doing. Kairi had been pushing Namine in his direction from the time they met. He was introduced to the Shirou twins at the Twilight junior Academy graduation. It wasn't that he disliked Namine. She was a nice girl. Upon, their first meeting, she showed him her drawings in her sketchbook. After a moment, Kairi pulled her aside and he hadn't seen the book since.

But he did catch her sketching in her notes during class. He thought about her for a few moments longer, until the bell rang.

He heard giggling.

He saw girls approaching. The end was year. But he refused it. Getting up to leave, he saw Sora chatting with Roxas. And Pence.

It was time.

Riku grabbed Sora by the wrist and dragged her out of the classroom. " Sorry."

They ran quickly through the hallway, down the stairs, and out the back entrance. Riku pulled Sora to the side of the school building. It was chilly out, and the sky was overcast.

"Sora…I…"

Earlier that day.

Sora woke up snuggled against his young brother. Looking at his surroundings, he realize they weren't in his room. He patted his brother's head.

"Morning Woksass."

Roxas mumbled in his sleep and opened his eyes. He yawned.

"Morning Zowah."

Sora shivered. "Woksass!" He whined.

"Hm?"

"It's coooold!"

"Yeah, I guess. Is that why you came in here?"

"I don't know." He blushed. "But like, isn't this an island? How come it's so cold."

"Global warming Sora. But, I doubt it's under fifty degrees. What, you've never been this cold before?"

"No…" Sora looked away. "The temperature was always regulated." There was a distant look in his eyes. "A-And I never left the building, so…"

Roxas nodded. "It's okay Sora. You don't live there anymore. And you'll never go back, I promise."

Sora smiled. "Okay. But…Promise me something else?"

"Yeah?"

"Promise me we'll still somehow make it to school on time even though your evil clock is telling me we won't?"

"…"

Dressing quickly and making a run for it, the boys somehow made it in time for breakfast. Sora greeted his usual assortment of friends in the dining room and ate a mountain of pancakes. He paused in between mouthfuls, to see Riku staring at him with a look of irritation. Sora assumed he was cranky from insomnia.

As the day continued on, Sora felt a prickly gaze.

But it wasn't just Riku, he caught a multitude of people staring at him during the day. Did he do something wrong? He checked his appearance. Nothing made him seem different, aside form his spiky bangs.

Catching Riku's gaze during lunch, Sora realized something. 'Wow, this is the longest amount of time that I've ever seen Riku awake.' He watched Riku stare at Namine during their last class. A note dropped onto his desk.

_Sora, can we talk after class?_

_-Pence_

Sora gave Pence a thumbs up and went back to his work. Pence and Hayner grinned at each other. Olette rolled her eyes as the bell rang. Sora's stomach grumbled and he tugged at his brother's shirt. "Hey, Roxas, can we get something to eat?"

Pence chimed in. "OH, cool you guys head somewhere? You wanna go to the new burger place by the train station? Hayner was talking about how he wanted to-"

Sora felt something grab his wrist.

"Sorry…."

The next hind he knew Riku was pulling him behind the school building. He heard Kairi scream in a fit of rage.

"!"

Riku let go of him, his eyes on the ground. "Sora…I…." He sighed. "I'm sorry."

Our favorite brunette was baffled. "Huh? What's wrong?"

Sora cocked his head to the side. "You look sick? Are you okay?"

"….." Riku raked a hand through his hair. "No, I'm not."

"Sora, Do me a favor?"

"Huh?"

"Ask me to the Sadie Hawkins dance?"

"Huh?" 'What…..Wait….What…?'

' Okay, that was not what I meant to ask. But that's killing two vampires with one stake right? If she doesn't want to ask me, she probably doesn't think of me that way…'

"W…uh…." 'I-I- what! Ask him to the…It's not like like its a big deal right? He probably wants me to ask so those others girls stop asking right….It's just doing him a favor, so….uh…'

"Sora!" Roxas appaered, running towards them.

Watching his twin come closer. Sora shook his head. "I-I'm sorry…uh…I have to think about it..uh…B-But I'll definitely tell you tomorrow, okay?"

Riku nodded. "….Fine."

Wow. We're getting close to...something! All we need is a little Namine, a run, and then the…hee hee…So, if Riku is Simon from 7th heaven, and Sora is the kid from the sixth sense, does that mean we all actually support crossover shota-con pairings? No. And if Roxas is Jesse McCartney and Namine is Hayden Penitere…Omigosh save the cheerleader save the world. Roxas should sing "I'm leaving…"

Roxas: Shh! The internet is already full of kh2/Jesse McCartney jokes!

Riku: Whatever. You won't be forever remembered as the other son from the Camdens 7th heaven.

Sora: I see dead people…

Trixtedark: When I see their happy faces smiling back at me….

Riku: KNOCK IT OFF!

Sora: So…since my va is Hayley joel osment….and I have a clone that's a girl…shouldn't she be voiced by Emily osment?

Roxas: Next you'll say Hannah Montana has a key blade

Sora: well, she said it was the beeeeeessst of both worlds!


	15. Cerulean colored ream

Internship work? School work? Publish my first book? Hell no, let's write a nice long chapter of this fic. Don't get freaked out by the title. It's not over.

Chapter 15: Everything ends with a Cerulean colored dream.

_"Sora, Do me a favor?"_

_"Huh?"_

_"Ask me to the Sadie Hawkins dance?"_

Sora was staring at the ceiling when they sat down at the burger place Pence had mentioned. He was squeezed into a booth between Roxas and Hayner. Sitting across from them were Pence and Olette.

"-tice dance. Sora? Sora?"

Roxas nudged him, and Sora blinked. "Huh?"

"I was asking you about the dance." Hayner said. "Are you gonna go?"

"Sure." Sora looked up at the ceiling again.

_"I-I'm sorry…uh…I have to think about it…uh…B-But I'll definitely tell you tomorrow, okay?"_

_Riku nodded. "….Fine." _

"-der? Sora?" Hayner waved his hand in Sora's face and Sora shook his head.

"Huh? What?"

A waitress stood above their table.

"What're you having Sora?" Roxas asked.

"Oh…Um…I'm not hungry." Instead of looking at the ceiling, he stared at the table.

'But what am I going to say tomorrow?'

Olette poked Sora with a straw, causing him to jump again. "Sora, can you come with me to the bathroom for a sec?"

"Uh…Sure." They excused themselves and headed for the bathroom.

Once Olette saw they were only two in the lavatory she smiled. "Well?"

Sora cocked his head to the side. "What?"

"I can totally tell, you've got a crush on someone, don't you?"

"Wh-" He/She turned red. "No! Why would you say that?"

"'Cause you've been acting funny since Riku pulled you out of the classroom. Well, What did he say? I know he likes you."

Sora's eyes went wide. "What?"

"He likes you." Olette repeated. "It's super obvious, its almost as bad as your brother's crush on Namine."

"Wh-Well, a blind person could see that, but…"

'_He likes you.'_

Sora felt his legs wobble. "No…you…must have the wrong idea. Riku…"

"Has been following you everywhere since you woke him up that time during lunch." Olette said, smiling. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed. Why do you think Kairi hates you so much?"

"Because she has her time of the month three hundred and sixty five days a year."

Olette laughed. "Well, that too. So…."

"So?"

"What did Riku pull you out the room for?"

"Uh…He asked me, to um…"

"Ask him to the dance?" Olette beamed.

Sora's mouth dropped open.

"That's sooo cute! Do you like him?"

"…." _'He likes you.' _

"What did you say? Kairi's gonna flip."

"….." _'He likes you.' _

"Sora?"

"I…um…gotta…go…home."

"Sor-"

Sora bolted out of the bathroom and ran out of the restaurant. He'd heard Roxas calling him but paid him no mind. Running through the streets, he found himself at the Strife Cafe.

Denzel was sitting at the counter while Tifa wiped glasses.

"Hey Sora!" Denzel said. "Wait…why are you wearing girl clothes?"

Tifa grinned as Sora sat on a bar stool.

"I lost a bet." Sora said, staring at the table. "Can I have a chocolate milk please?"

He shivered, realizing he had left his coat and bag at the burger place.

"You look down." Tifa said, making his chocolate milk. "What's wrong?"

"I…heard something I wash I didn't."

Tifa frowned. "Denzel, go do your homework upstairs sweetie."

Denzel frowned. "But I just got home-"

"Go!" She demanded, and he hopped off the bar stool.

"Fine. G'bye Sora."

Sora nodded. "Bye Denzel."

Denzel went behind the counter and up the wooden stairs to the rec room.

"Now tell me what happened." Tifa said, handing him his milk. "It wasn't _him_, was it?"

"What? No…" Sora dropped a curly straw into the glass. "They haven't been looking for me at all."

Tifa was confused. "Then, what happened?"

"Riku...asked me to ask him to the Winter Sadie Hawkins dance thing…."

"And?"

"And then…this girl told me he liked me."

"And what? You couldn't tell before?"

Sora looked at her in shock. "Wh-No! Why would I think that! Why would I ever even assume-"

"Sora."

Sora was quiet and sipped his milk. The chocolate tasted more bitter than usual.

"I don't know if he does, but let's say he did. Is it really that horrible to have someone like you?"

"No! But…."

"But?"

"Riku's my friend...and Um…Why would he do that? I'm not even really a girl, I'm a guy and uh…"

"Is that it?"

"You're worried what he'd say if he knew?"

"No." Sora said, taking another sip. "Its just there's no reason for him to like me. I'm not special, or good at anything…And I can't be that pretty of a girl…"

"Half the boys in your class would beg to differ."

"WHAT!"

"Sora, this may come to a shock to you, but you're a very nice, attractive person. It's very possible to like you. You've captured plenty of hearts already."

"Wh….Bu…." Sora was turning redder with each syllable.

"But before we start on image and gender…" She smiled. "What do you think of Riku?"

"He's…. nice…" Sora played with her skirt. "But that's all I think about him...I think."

"Well, why don't you go to the dance with him and find out?"

"What? Why?"

"Just go and see how things are. And remember, you don't even know if he likes you for a fact….It can't hurt to talk with him and dance with him for awhile…"

"….I guess you're right. Even though I thought I was just doing him a favor…"

"It's settled then. Now go home and figure out what you're going to wear!"

"….."

Sora found Roxas sitting on the porch when he arrived home.

"Where did you go?" Roxas demanded, draping Sora's coat on his shoulders. "You scared the crap out of me, and I sent Yuffie, and Aerith, and Cloud, _and_ Leon to look for you!"

"I'm sorry Roxas. I got scared…for some reason. I promise not to do it again. I'll call and let everyone know I'm okay."

"Good." Roxas said, and they went in the house. "So what happened? Olette said she was sorry, for whatever she said."

"…Nothing." Sora said, plopping onto the couch and dialing Squall's number. "It's nothing at all."

"Nothing doesn't cause people to run outside without their stuff."

Sora put the phone down. "Riku said…he wanted me to ask him…."Sora sighed. "You don't think he likes me, do you?"

"Huh? Do I think Riku likes you? And he asked you what? And what's this got to do with what Olette said?"

"I'll tell you in a minute." Sora made several phone calls, telling everyone he was fine, and that he was sorry.

Afterwards he went upstairs changed into his pajamas, and sat on his brother's bed.

"Riku." Sora said, holding a pillow. "Riku wants me to ask him to the dance. And Olette said he liked me."

Roxas felt a chill go down his spine. "Riku likes you!"

"Ah! Wait a minute! He never said-"

"No wonder Leon said, 'Make sure he's not with that silver haired guy-"

"When did Leon-"

"And that time Hayner asked-"

"Woksass!" Sora whined, and Roxas stopped talking. Woksass was what Sora had called him when they were toddlers. Zowah was what he had called Sora. When they were small, neither one could say their names properly. And then Sora was taken away.

And when they met again, Sora had said: "Woksass?"

Roxas patted his brother's head. "It caught me by surprise, sorry."

"A-And Tifa said I should go with him to the dance, and I said I would, so…"

"Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. If he likes you, whatever. If you like him, whatever. If nothing happens, who cares? But don't tell Leon, he might interrogate him or something."

"So you think its okay?" Sora hugged the pillow closer and yawned. "Okay…"

"You seem tired. Going to bed early?"

"Yeah…"Sora said, dozing off. Roxas pushed his brother lightly and pulled the covers over him.

Commercial Break

So…**Roxas** likes **Namine** who has some thing with **Riku** who is rumored to like **Sora** who is unsure of his feelings while being pursued by **Hayner **who is oblivious that he is liked by **Olette **who's caused some minor confusion. We now return you to your randomly updated fanfic.

Riku had a serious case of insomnia that night. He groaned when he realized he hadn't slept all night and arrived at school two hours late. Sora had been worried when he didn't see Riku at breakfast, and somewhat relieved when he though the might be answer.

But, when lunch rolled along, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Sora met with Riku outside the main school building. Riku stared down at Sora.

'Surely she didn't call me out there just to say no.'

"So um…Riku…Will you go with me to the Sadie Hawkins Winter Solstice dance?"

Riku had to stop himself from chuckling, as Sora wore a fierce look of determination of her face. "Yes…I thought you'd never ask."

Sora, suddenly feeling lighter smiled. "Um…as friends though…right?"

"Yes…"Riku's smile faded. "Of course…"

"Okay! Let's go back before lunch ends."

Riku followed Sora back to the lunch hall. 'Just as friends…'

'Not that we need to stay that way.'

"Why?" Riku said right outside the lunchroom.

"Huh?"

"Why do we need to go just as friends?"

Sora blushed. "Wh-'cause…Um….!"

"What if I said, I didn't want it that way."

Sora, who suddenly heard the song 'I want it that way' in his head laughed and then sobered up. "I don't know…if I can go with you, the other way…"

"Why? Am I that repulsive?"

"No…No, you're not repulsive but-"

"First off, she needs permission to have a date."

Sora nearly jumped when he saw Leon standing behind him.

"Squall!" He pouted. "I don't need permission, you're not my parent!"

"No, But I'm the closest thing you got around." Leon said crossing his arms. "And I don't think you need to go."

"I'll go if I want!" Sora huffed, trying to keep his voice from sounding too manly. "With whoever I wanna go with! I don't see you talking to Roxas!"

"Roxas isn't wearing a skirt."

"So, if I had pants it wouldn't matter? IS that what your saying?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"THAT'S-" Sora caught his voice as it slipped. "So…mean!…It's not like I have a choice-"

"Sora-" Riku began.

"What!" Sora hissed.

"Perhaps this quarrel should move to some place private."

"There is no _quarrel_." The Leon formally known as Squall said. "Sora, you're not going."

The bell rang and they went to class. During Phys Ed it started to snow, and they waltzed until the bell rang. After class, in the locker room, Kairi spoke with her sister.

"So, you asked Roxas to the dance?"

"Yeah, I thought it would be fun."

"But why didn't you ask Riku?"

A light blush dusted Namine's cheeks. "It's not…I just didn't ask him first."

Kairi shook her head. "Well, you still can."

Namine blinked rapidly. "What? No I can't! I said I would go with Roxas!"

"Don't worry about Roxas. I'll take care of Roxas." She held up a card. "Just be here, at this time, and ask him what you need to."

Namine took the card. "How-"

"Riku's going to singing his hit song this night at Lulu's." She smirked. "You know, the one song you were obsessed with in junior high, the reason you wanted to meet him at graduation. The one thing besides his looks that let him in this school. It's a private event. Just talk to him afterwards, tell him your story. I'm sure things will go well."

Olette stood still behind the row of lockers.

"What?" Riku said.

"A mini concert." Demyx repeated, holding up a sitar. "At Lulu's. You agreed to it months ago."

Riku frowned. "What's the point? I only made one song….as a joke, on the internet. Like two years ago. And no one is going to remember that ONE song. Even I forget it sometimes."

"Oh come on, its got a following. Otherwise, it wouldn't have sold out. Plus it got you 100 friends after I added in to your Twilight School social page."

"…" Riku yawned.

" Father said he wants everyone to attend."

Riku's eyes widened.

"Fine."

As the bell rang, Olette caught up to a girl named Yuna in the hallway.

"Hey Yuna! Um, you know that club your friend runs-"

"Oh, you heard about the private event today didn't you? Don't tell me you want a ticket…?"

"Ah-A…yeah…B-But its not for me! I need it for a friend so-"

Sora appeared from out of the girls' bathroom.

"And there she is!" Olette said, grabbing Sora's arm. "Sora, you want to go see Riku sing tonight…right?"

Sora was confused. "What? Riku can si-"

Olette stomped on Sora's foot. "Anyway, can I get one?"

Yuna rolled her eyes. "Lucky for you I have one." She looked at Sora and frowned.

"Have we met before?"

Sora shrugged. "Probably not…"

"Maybe at one of her concerts." Olette said.

Sora almost dropped his bag. He had seen Yuna, before he moved in with Roxas, back when he lived _there_. Like some of the other few people that he'd seen there, she had needed-

"Nope. Not in person. Definitely a concert." Sora forced a smile. Hadn't Olette just said something about Riku singing? And sure, Yuna had been in an all girl band. Demyx played sitar. Sora and his brothers also liked to play music.

Sora raised an eyebrow. 'Am I in the middle of some sort of high school musical?'

"Here's your ticket, Sora." Yuna handed Sora a small card.

The second bell rang and they hurried off to class.

After school Sora and Roxas headed straight home. The snow was becoming heavy and the trolley could not run all the way near their house.

"I don't believe this!" Roxas said. His toes were numb. "Curse you global warming!"

Sora stared around him. Everything was turning white. He smiled. "It looks like powdered sugar. Or vanilla Ice cream." He held a hand out to catch several snow flakes.

"Either way, it's really cold!"

They walked through the thickening snow.

"Hey Sora." Roxas said. A thought occurred to him. "Have you ever made a snow man?"

"Once." Sora smiled. "I was ten. Our cousin brought some snow in and put it in a cooler. Then we made mini snow men. It was fun, 'til Dad found out. I never touched snow again."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. " Our cousin, the one that looks like me?"

Sora laughed. "Yeah, well technically, _you_ look like _him_."

When they reached home, they made tea.

"So, apparently I'm going to see Riku sing later." Sora said, dunking Madeline cookies into a steaming cup of tea.

"Oh yeah." Roxas said. "He made that song."

"What song?"

"You're going and you don't even know? We saw it on his page right before we enrolled you as a girl"

FLASHBACK!

"_The last five people were Hayner painer, Pence spence, Rasta Fire, me, and some guy named Riku."_

"_Riku what?"_

"_Nothing. Just Riku. Let's look at his page…whoa, someone's a pretty boy. With boring hobbies and money apparently. He's a model/one hit wonder."_

_Sora sighed and Roxas glared at the screen. "THIS is what they accepted instead of you? Come on!"_

"It was big on the internet. Had like a million hits." Roxas said.

"Oh...I kinda remember that. Looking at his page, I mean." Sora shoved more cookies in his mouth.

"Well there's no reason to look it up since you'll see him later. What're you gonna wear?"

"Sweats." Sora said. "A hoodie, sweats, and a pair of combat boots."

"Really?" Roxas said.

"It's a club. It'll be dark. Who cares?"

"Fine." Roxas rolled his eyes. "But keep your voice in check."

"I wonder why Olette wanted me to go so badly…"

"I don't know. Wait, she thinks he likes you, right?"

Namine checked her reflection in the long pearl rimmed mirror. A cream colored wool dress with long off white boots was her outfit. She wore a soft pink and white trench coat over it. Kairi gave her a thumbs up, and they said their goodbyes. The temperature had actually dipped down to forty nine, the coldest it had ever been in Twilight town.

She took a cab to Lulu's, showed them the ticket at the door and was led to a back room. There couldn't have been more then two hundred people there. To her it felt like there were many more. She sat at a table close to the stage.

Sora entered the room just as the lights were dimming. He looked around for a place to sit and found one in the middle. Sora noticed several of Riku's family members scattered around the room. A round of cheering pushed his attention back toward the stage.

The stage lit up. Riku stood out in front of the band. As usual, he looked bored and tired. "…So, thanks to coming to Lulu's five minute secret session. Lulu has been having these for a couple of nights now, and I'm happy to be tonight's guest. Actually, I'm surprised this many people remembered me. After the performance, the next guest will be announced, so make sure you stick around."

The band began to play and Riku nodded. "Without further ado, this is me, Riku, singing Meet me on the Equinox. A.K.A. 'Everything ends.'"

The room became quiet except for the sound of two guitars.

"Meet me on the Equinox, meet me half way." Riku sang. "The sun is perched at its highest peak in the middle of the day…Let me give my love to you, let me take your hand. And as we walk in the dimming light, oh, darling understand. That everything, everything ends. That everything, everything ends. Meet me on your best behavior, meet me at your worst. For there will be no stone unturned or bubble left to burst. Let me lay beside you darlin', let me be your man….And let our bodies intertwine….but always understand…That that everything, _everything_ ends….that everything, _everything _ends…."

Sora was awestruck. He had only known Riku could sing for two hours, but he was already a fan. 'I wonder why I've never heard him before. Not that there have been any special singing occasions...well, we did play GHRB that one time…but come to think of it, Riku only played guitar…'

Namine was gripping her ticket until her fingers turned white. The song was coming to an end. Nevertheless, is was just as good as it was when she first heard it.

"A window…An open tomb…the sun crawls across your bedroom. A halo…Awaiting gloom…your last breath… moving through you, as everything…_everything_ ends…"

"As everything, everything , everything ends…" With each 'everything' Riku looked more tired. He must have said it ten time in one sentence.

"Meet me on the Equinox, meet me half way….The sun is perched at its highest peak in the middle of the day…Let me give my love to you, let me take your hand. And as we walk in the dimming light, oh, darling understand, that everything, _Everything_ ends…"

Despite the chilling lyrics it had been Namine's favorite song since she first time she heard it. So when Kairi found out Axel was close to the singer, she made sure that they met.

With the song over, Riku thanked everyone for coming and left. Namine immediately got up to see if she could see him outside. Sora, having enjoyed himself, decided he should get to know Riku better. 'I've been thinking to hard about this. I hardly know the guy. For now I'll just concentrate on hard stuff.'

Sora realized his eyes hadn't adjusted in the dark. The lights were still dim. He wove his way in between tables looking for an exit.

Namine had somehow found Riku outside with Axel and Demyx. The two boys sensed a gushy moment coming on and excused themselves.

"Hi Riku." Namine breath came out in white puffs. The snow continued to fall. "You were really good."

"Thanks. I don't think I've sung that in a million years." He chuckled. "Did you really like it?"

"Yes!" Namine was still clutching the ticket. "I like…"

She heard her sister's voice in her head.

"_You know, the one song you were obsessed with in junior high, the reason you wanted to meet him at graduation….Just talk to him afterwards, tell him your story. I'm sure things will go well."_

"I like…you." Namine was finally ready to say it. "I like you, Riku."

Sora pushed a door open slightly. Seeing white flakes, he realized he'd finally found a way out. He could see Riku and Namine standing out in the snow.

Riku felt as if he'd planted roots inn the ground. There was that weird feeling again, as if he'd been doing something wrong. Namine stared up at him, looking slightly pale surrounded by the snow. He wasn't saying anything. Namine decided she wasn't going to wait. She stood up on her tiptoes and put her arms around his neck.

'I want him to know, just how much I-'

Before she could kiss him, they heard the back door creak. Riku turned his head to see Sora standing at the door.

Sora's vision blurred. "…." His hands were gripping the sides of his coat.

"Sora…" Riku said slowly, and then realized Namine was still a centimeter away from his face. "This-"

Sora wasn't listening. He found himself running once again. The snow impaired his vision. No matter how much he ran, he could Riku calling him.

"Sora! Sora! Wait! Come back! Sora!"

Despite Riku's pleas, Sora's legs were still moving. 'Why am I running?' Sora thought to himself, still racing ahead. 'What am I running from? Am I actually upset? Just 'cause I saw…' He felt a sharp tug in his chest and stopped. Looking up, he saw the sign for the Strife café. He wiped away tears he hadn't realized he cried and walked in. Tifa and Cloud were behind the counter. Sora mumbled something and ducked his head under the counter, past the bar and up to the rec room.

"What was that about?" Cloud asked.

The door to the café opened again. It Riku. "Sora!" He called.

Tifa shook her head and pointed. "That."

"Ms. Lockhart…?" Riku said. "Sora just came in here right? I need to speak with her."

"From the look on Sora's face, I don't think she wants to talk to you." Tifa said, hands on her hips.

"Please?" Riku asked. "It's really important…I think she misunderstood something."

Sora could hear them talking below. Sighing he got up from the futon/couch and walked back down the stairs. "Hi Riku."

Riku looked relieved. "Sora. We need to talk."

Sora nodded. "Mmhm." Then realized his voice was too low. "Come upstairs."

Riku followed him up and Sora sat back on the futon.

"So…I guess you saw me with Namine..but we weren't doing anything, I swear!"

Sora was silent, hugging his knees and Riku continued. "I mean I don't even think of her that way. Because…" He looked into Sora's eyes. "That's the way I think about you…"

Sora turned red and almost fell off the futon. "…..Well."

Riku took Sora's hand. "Give me another chance Sora. If I hurt your feelings before, I'm sorry. Honest." He gripped it tighter. "Please?"

Sora tried to look away. "Um…O-Okay…" He looked at the wall. "I mean, it's not like I was jealous, and I'd have no reason to be… because I'm not… we're not…"

A sly grin crossed Riku's face. "Not yet."

Sora felt something buzz in his pocket. "My phone…I have to go now."

Riku didn't let go of his hand. "I have an idea." He grinned. "How about we go out tomorrow? There's no school after all."

"Um…" The phone continued to vibrate. "…okay. Fine."

"Good. I'll be at your house at 12."

"Uh huh…" Sora's blush didn't recede, and Riku chuckled.

"What?" Sora hand pulling away his hand.

"Nothing." Riku said, laughing again and heading down the stairs.

When Sora returned home he went straight to his room and plopped onto the bed.

Roxas gave him a mug of hot chocolate. "How was the concert thing?"

"Cool." Sora said, his eyes on the ceiling. "Riku has a nice voice, remind me to look him up when we start our on band."

Roxas frowned. "Did anything else happen?"

" He wants to go do something tomorrow."

"…..I'll let you get some sleep. Change into your pajamas. G'night Zowah."

Sora smiled. "G'night Woksass!"

Sora woke up early the next morning. Inspired by the previous night's concert he sat in his room, singing and playing guitar.

It was exactly 11:57 when Riku arrived at the Hoshino household. To his surprise the front door was open. No one was on the first floor. He could hear music coming from upstairs.

"If they could see you now, they would surely bow… in the honor of your presence dear…"

Riku found himself walking up the stairs. 'Who is that? It sounds good.'

He followed it to a room.

"Flash never lasts, you gotta pay your way back in…'Cause who you are, what you say, you're just a-" The singer stopped.

Riku stood in the doorway of a black and blue room. Girl clothes were hanging on a chair. Guys clothes were in a pile. Sitting on the bed was a boy with messy chocolate colored hair, shirtless and wearing sweatpants.

Sora was frozen, his hands still on the guitar pick and guitar. "Riku…"

"So…" Riku scratched his head. "I guess you're busy today…."

"Yeah…" Sora sat still.

"Well, see you at school then."

"Uh huh…"

Riku backed out of the room and bumped into Roxas. "Oh…hey Roxas."

"Hey Riku."

"Well, see you at school…."

"Okay…?"

Riku headed back out of the house and Roxas peeked into Sora's

room. "What just happ- Sora! WHY ARE YOU NAKED!"

FIN. JK JK Lol, the fun is just starting.

Reviews please...Because they please...

The songs in this chapter were 'Meet me on the Equinox' by Death cab for cutie sung by Riku and 'Pop punk in soooo '05' by Cobra Starship sung by Sora.

Sora: I'm tired….that was long….

Roxas: Way longer than usual.

Sora: Wait…Riku knows I'm a guy now… right?

Everyone else in the room: …..

It's time for me to go to sleep. I hope you enjoyed yourselves. Man, that took forever…


	16. Chapter 16

I read the last chapter and I was like…

"Mad typos and missing words….How do people read this?"

I love Roxas. He's so cool.

Chapter 16: This story just got real.

"SORA! WHY ARE YOU NAKED!"

Sora sat up and slowly rose from the bed. "Well, let's be-"

"HE SAW YOUR MAN-CHEST SORA! HE KNOWS YOU'RE A GUY!"

"Okay…But let's just chill for a sec. Let's think about it…" Sora was trying his best to stay calm, seeing as his twin was having a fit.

"Okay…Calm…" A strange smile crossed Roxas' face. "Riku saw you half naked….He's just one guy…We can just make him disappear…"

"No more Mafia shows for you." Sora crossed his arms. "And anyway…he seemed pretty relaxed about it…Maybe he was half asleep…"

"You're right….I've seen him walk into walls before at school. Yeah...Maybe…"

Roxas frowned. "Or maybe…."

"What?" Sora asked.

"Maybe he didn't care because he feels betrayed and now he's going to try to use this against you…like blackmail!"

"I don't like that 'maybe'. Let's just go with the first 'maybe'."

"I'm not kidding Sora! What if that's true? What if he makes you his personal slave for the rest of the story-I mean, school year!"

"Well…We wont know anything until we go back to school."

School. Morning. Riku hadn't appeared at breakfast. After his first class, Sora saw him, walking down the hall. Sora was half relieved, and half worried. Riku's family hadn't treated him any different but….

Riku had an all too smug look on his face.

He nodded at her…him. "Hey Sora."

Sora and Roxas stopped walking. Sora glared. "Hey yourself."

Riku seemed a little confused with the sudden hostility. "Something wrong?"

Sora was at a loss for words at that. "Wh-But y- Are you serious?"

Riku scratched his head and yawned. "Naw, not this early."

The warning bell for class rang.

"Guys.." Roxas said, "We should get to cla-"

Sora grabbed Riku and began to drag him away. "We need to talk."

Riku simply shrugged and let himself be dragged away. "Alright."

Sora found a empty broom closet and shoved Riku in, walked in, and shut the door behind them.

"Okay.." Sora crossed his arms. "Do you not remember the last time we met or what?"

"I remember perfectly." Riku said, yawning again. "I went over to your house, the door was open-you guys should keep it locked- You were playing guitar in your room-"

"Yeah! And I had a Man-chest-"

"A what?"

"Forget it, it's something Roxas said-A-Anyway, did you tell any one about that !"

"No…I mean…I don't think its anybody's business what's under the uniform. Like, it's your _prerogative_, right?"

"No, it's not some catchy R&B song! I'm not doing this 'cause I like it, I-"

Someone started banging on the door. "Open up!"

"Uh…"Sora blinked. "Yes…"

"Well, this is gonna be awkward." Riku said in a sing song voice.

Sora reached for the door handle, only for it come right out the door.

"_Oh, shi_take_ mushrooms."_

Barret let out a groan. He had heard the two students talking in the closet.

"Sir! The knob came out!"

"What? Hold on." Barret shook the door knob on his side. He heard a clicking noise.

Riku blinked. "That didn't sound good."

Apparently the door was finely crated, so finely crafted that it had a rare type of lock. The board that ran the school didn't want it damaged, so instead of knocking the door down, or unhinging the door Sora and Riku spent another class period in the closet, waiting for a locksmith to come.

During that time, they continued speaking about Sora's current…dilemma.

Sora groaned and sat on the floor. "All this nonsense is making me think about the song-"

"Keep it in the closet?" Riku guessed. Sora nodded.

Riku was reading the contents of a very expensive can of polish. "So…why are you dressed…in a skirt?"

There was a crowd outside waiting for the locksmith. It was unclear if anyone could hear them.

Sora leaned back against a wall of supplies. "Well, I guess there are a couple of reasons." He looked at the door. "There's my brothers…And the fact that I'm harder to find this way. Plus I've come this far, so…"

Riku nodded. "Sounds like heavy stuff."

"Heavy?" The word made Sora smile. "Yeah, that's a good word for it."

S/He slumped back. "But with this weight on me now, it's still a lot lighter than I used to feel."

"Hm?"

"Sora!" Roxas called. "Are you okay in there?"

"Yeah!" Sora yelled back. "I'm okaaaay!"

"The locksmith is gonna come soon, so sit tight alright?"

"Okay. It's not like I can go anywhere…."

Riku starting writing something in his notebook. "So…"

"Hm?"

"What're you doing next Saturday?"

"I don't know…"

There was some shuffling outside the door. And then someone cried out:

"PIERCE THE DOOR WITH YOUR DRILLLLLLLLLL!"

The sudden shout made Sora scooted back, hitting the wall full of supplies. There was a creaking noise, and Riku realized the 'wall' was just a book case hinged to the wall, that was slowly coming out.

"Sora! Look out!"

"Huh?"

With another creak the shelf began to fall, and Sora closed his eyes in reflex. He waited for the oncoming assault of cleaning supplies, but it never came. Instead, he felt arms encircling him and heard the door open.

"Sora!" He heard Roxas calling him and opened his eyes. Riku had acted as his shield. There was a open can of paint next to them, and a large amount of it had landed on Riku's back.

Riku let go of Sora, and rubbed his shoulder. "…..a pink shirt…?" He winked at Sora.

"But, you'd know all about guys wearing pink, right?"

Sora wasn't in the mood for humor. "Riku! Are you alright?"

The shelf's other contents were scattered on the floor.

Riku shook his head. "I'm fine actually."

He could tell by the look on Sora's face that he didn't believe him.

Ignoring the onlookers, he grinned.

"I told you…" He leaned forward, placing a kiss on Sora's forehead.

"I'm fine."

OHHHHHHHHH MAAAAAAAI GAHHHHHHHHH

NEKU IS IN KINGDOM HEARTS 3D! NEKU IS IN KINGDOM HEARTS 3D!

The world ends with Sora meeting Neku!

Insert the foamy mouth guy from Avatar here.

Neku:….nerd.


	17. Say what you need to say

(OH MY GOSH THAT HIATUS…But I was in my last semester and I graduated from school and got a job…that justifies it? Right?)

!

"_Sora!" He heard Roxas calling him and opened his eyes. Riku had acted as his shield. There was a open can of paint next to them, and a large amount of it had landed on Riku's back._

_Riku let go of Sora, and rubbed his shoulder. "…..a pink shirt…?" He winked at Sora. _

"_But, you'd know all about guys wearing pink, right?"_

_Sora wasn't in the mood for humor. "Riku! Are you alright?"_

_The shelf's other contents were scattered on the floor. _

_Riku shook his head. "I'm fine actually."_

_He could tell by the look on Sora's face that he didn't believe him._

_Ignoring the onlookers, he grinned._

"_I told you…" He leaned forward, placing a kiss on Sora's forehead._

"_I'm fine."_

And then amidst all the gasps and murmurs Riku heard something specific. That sounded like a gun. The next thing he knew Sora had shoved him back, and there was a hole in the wall where he had been. He stared at it for a moment, before glancing at Sora, who sat there blushing and staring at the floor. And then he looked up at Roxas, who was pushing back Leon, who had a large weapon in his hand. A weapon that looked like a gun…or a blade….?

"Well I guess that's my cue to go." He stood up and gave a quick bow. "Good day Hoshino brothers…Oh, and _Sora_."

The next moments were still a haze for Sora as he recalled them later. He remembered Rinoa helping him up and Roxas trying to calm Squall down. He recalled Riku not being in class for the rest of the day. He had tuned out Kairi's twenty questions about his relationship with the silver haired boy. He couldn't remember the walk home though. The next thing he knew they were at home.

Sora was sitting on the couch, a cup of Hot chocolate in his hands and a bottle of chocolate syrup and whipped cream in front of him. Roxas was sitting to his right, flipping channels and talking about the day.

"-And I really thought Leon was gonna kill him, I don't know why they allow him to carry that thing around…It's 'cause he's in that special program, what's it called?"

"SEED?" Sora answered, blinking.

"Yeah, that."

"….."

The phone rang. Sora put his cup down and headed to the kitchen to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sora!" It was Tifa again.

"Oh….Hi."

"Do you guys wanna have dinner with us tonight? We're closing early, the whole gang is around!"

"Everyone?" Sora asked, finally sobering up from his dream state.

"Yeah. Even Cloud's here."

"Sure!" He turned to Roxas. "Hey guess what? Everyone's having dinner at The strife's tonight! Cloud's gonna be there!"

Roxas looked away from the tv, excited. "Yeah! That's awesome. What time?"

Tifa had heard him through the phone. "Six o'clock. Aerith, Cid, and my friend Barret are cooking. Don't be late!" She hanged up and Sora chuckled.

'Aerith, Cid, and Barret? That's an interesting mix.'

The arrived at the Strife café around Five thirty, eager for food. Several of the tables had been pushed together in a straight row. Denzel and Marlene were putting plates on the tables. Smells wafted through the empty restaurant from the kitchen.

"Sora!" "Sora! Roxas!" The children greeted them, putting down the plates.

"Hi!" Roxas waved.

"We brought cake." Sora said, holding up a box.

Tifa strolled in from the back. "Sora, Roxas, glad you could make it. But you're still a little early." She took the Box from Sora and went to put it in the fridge. "Have a seat. Aerith and Barret are still cooking. Cid's built something that can make a full course dinner, the strangest contraption I've ever seen, so his stuff is done." She glanced up at the stairs. "Cloud is resting upstairs."

Sora looked at the stairs. 'Cloud…'

Sora and Roxas spent the next few minutes chatting with Denzel and Marlene, until Leon and Rinoa arrived. Yuffie showed up right after them. Just as the food was being set on the table, Cloud appeared from the upstairs room. Sora sat himself between Roxas and Tifa. Cloud was next to her. Squall was between Aerith and Yuffie, who insisted on teasing him about his girlfriend. Rinoa sat with the children, Cid and Barret rounded out the table.

Tifa turned to Sora. "So….What happened earlier?"

"Oh, with the closet?" Sora looked down at his plate. "I was only in there with him to ask him a question…But then the doorknob fell out and we got stuck."

"You should be more careful." Cloud said, before resuming his silence.

"Yeah, listen to Cloud." Squall chimed in.

Sora gave his older brother a sour look before Aerith asked, "But what was so important that you had to talk in a closet?"

It became quiet in the room.

"Oh…" Sora stopped touching his food. "He found out…my secret."

There was a rush of panic, and he could feel the building tension as everyone stared in horror.

"NO,NO!" He waved his hands frantically. "Oh man…no, I didn't mean that one! I meant the other one…the 'dress' one…"

There was a collective sigh of relief.

Yuffie looked ecstatic. "You mean he knows you wear boxers! Congratulations Sora, you're a trap!"

"…."Sora ignored her comment. 'I don't even think I know what that was supposed to mean…'

Rinoa shook her head. "But isn't that good?"

Squall crossed his arms. "it's only 'good' if he keeps his mouth shut."

"This coulda been avoided if ya let us pass you through Sora." Cid said, raising his cup. "We told ya, you didn't have to go through the process.''

"Yeah, but it wouldn't have been fair if you did that." Sora clenched his fists. "That's something HE would do."

"Who's 'He' ?" Marlene whispered.

"Sora's Dad." Denzel whispered back.

In an effort to bring back positive conversation, Aerith looked at Roxas.

"So, the dance is coming up…Are you going with anyone Roxas?"

Roxas' face flushed at the mention of it. "Uh…yeah…th-this girl asked me…"

"This girl?" Sora said. "Don't you mean Namine?"

Roxas blushed and there was a chorus of "Ooooooooh!"

"Cut it out!"

They laughed at him and he glared at his brother.

The mood stayed friendly for the rest of the evening.

There was one week to go until the dance. Sora, unlike many of the girls around, was stuffing his face with breakfast.

"Sora."

Sora looked up from his breakfast to see Riku's face. He blushed crimson and looked back down, wiping his face with a napkin. "Yeah…?"

The sight of Riku made him remember several things at once. That they were going to the dance together, that Riku had confessed to him at the Strife café, that Riku also knew he was a guy. And so, at present he could no longer look him in the eye. Riku didn't act any different after finding out Sora was a boy, something that confused him .

Riku, wanting Sora's full attention, proceeded to poke him in the head, over and over, until he looked up. "Sora…..Sora….Sora….Sora….Sora…Sora….Sor-"

Of course Sora wasn't one for processing too many thoughts at once, so he snapped, in his regular voice. "WHAT!"

This caused several heads to turn and Roxas started to panic, but Riku's eyes stayed on Sora.

"I was asking you when you're gonna pick me up for dance." Rike said. " You asked me, y'know? You have to pick to me up and get me a corsage. I want a white one."

Sora stared at him in disbelief.

Kairi grabbed Sora's arm. "Hold it. What? You asked him already?"

Sora glanced at Kairi, then at Riku. "Yeah."

"So, are you saying you LIKE him?"

Sora had grown tired of trying to think, and decided to blurt out whatever came to mind.

"No, I'm saying get your claws out of my arm. And If I liked him, which let me say this, isn't ANY OF YOUR BUSINESS AT ALL, why do you care?"

A wide grin was plastered on Olette's face.

Kairi had snapped "Exactly WHO do you think you are, and WHO do you think you're talking to?" She stood over him, arms crossed.

"I think.." Sora said, standing up. "I'm Sora Hoshino, the elder of the Hoshino twins, who just moved into town, the one you've been yelling at since school began. And you, are Kairi Shirou, elder of the Shirou twins. The one who freaked out at me when I dyed my hair pink, the one who has called me fat more times than I can count, the one who poisoned me with a sandwich, who tries to trip me in the hall or whenever I pass your chair. What your problem with me is, I have no idea, and honestly I no longer care." He raked a hand through his hair.

"I'm tired. I'm not gonna pretend like we're friends, and I'm not going to go along this frienemies crap. Let's not pretend anymo-"Sora was silenced by Kairi's hand, slapping him across the face.

"Don't you dare act like you're the victim here." Her face was red, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Everything was fine until you got here Sora. Everything!"

Sora's head was still turned, the imprint of her hand glowing red on his face.

"And what…" Sora said, touching the mark, "Did I ruin Kairi? What was supposed to happen that didn't because I came here?"

Just then the bell rang. Everyone at the table stood frozen. Sora reached over and grabbed his bag off the table.

"Let's talk after class Kairi." Sora said, facing her. "Behind the school. Tell me what I've done to you that's so horrible."

They all walked in silence to class. During lunch, the usual group had been divided into two. Kairi sat with her sister, Olette and Hayner at one table. Sora sat with his brothers, pence and Riku.

"So…" Roxas cleared his throat. "What's gonna happen after school?"

"Nothing." Sora was relatively calm. "I'm just gonna ask Kairi what her problem is. I'm not gonna hit her or anything." 'Nope. Even if this skirt gives me license to.'

Time seemed to slow down during the next few hours of class, but soon the final bell rang. Sora stood up, grabbed his bag and stopped in front of Kairi's desk. "Well?"

Kairi stood up and walked out of the room Sora tailing behind her. For one reason or another a crowd seemed to be following them.

Kairi gave a wink to a science nerd, who led them upstairs to a wing of the school devoted entirely to college level classes. It was quiet, no classes were in session. Trophies lined the walls and portraits of benefactors and photos of past students were propped everywhere.

As they walked down the hall, one face stood out to Sora. It was an image of several students, one of them was a small boy, too young to be in high school. He had silver hair and aqua eyes. A forced smile was on his face. Below the picture read:

Ansem the third and friends at Twilight Academy.

'Ansem the third?' Puzzled Sora walked onward. 'He looked just like Riku…'

They entered an empty classroom. Kairi stood by the window, her eyes on the scenery.

"When we were in junior high school…"She began. "I always…And I mean always…had a crush on your brother, Leon. He was smart, and he was nice. Some people thought he was a little scary, but I liked him. And I knew, I would have to be strong, I wanted to be liked by him. I changed my friends, how I acted, tried to make myself the center of attention."

" It took me a long time to work up the nerve to talk to him. And then, at our graduation he was there. With his girlfriend. I almost lost it. No one ever knew they were dating, and I didn't even understand where she came from. It made me so mad, that no matter what I did, he wouldn't have looked at me anyway. I gave up on him, And then…"

The tone in her voice changed. "Through the whole graduation, my sister had her eyes on one person: Riku. I knew she liked him, ever since he made that one song, she listened to it all the time. When she found out he was a relative of Axel's she always asked him questions about him. I thought it was cute, the way she was wrapped up in one guy, like I was. But there was a difference between me and her-She had a chance."

"So, right after we got those fake diplomas, I promised myself that she would get her happy ending, that I would do all I could to get her with the one guy she ever wanted."

"But of course Riku didn't seem interested. I thought that was just his nature, going it alone, and then he saw you. He started talking, and following you around, and I was angry. I wanted Namine to be happy, I thought you took that away from her." She looked Sora in the eyes. "But, I didn't even notice. Namine is happy, she didn't need a prince charming. She didn't need me draggin her around, or trying to help up."

Her voice cracked. "She didn't need me." Tears started to fall.

Sora shifted uncomfortably, unsure if he should get closer.

"That's not true Kairi…Your sister needs you, of course she does. Maybe not for relationship advice, but, I'm sure she needs you. But aside from that, you need to worry about yourself. There's plenty of other guys out there, and I'm sure there're plenty who will like you, not this person you've been trying to be. "

"Oh man…"Kairi said, wiping away the tears. "That's so cheesy."

"Yeah." Sora chuckled. "I'm a easy mac." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry for making you think I was trying to steal your sister's happiness. I'm sorry my brother doesn't like you-though, I don't think you're missing out on much, he's been a jerk lately. And hey, I have no idea why Riku's around, 'cause trust me, I'm not trying to het his attention. If anything he confuses me the most."

Kairi rubbed her eyes. "What's there to be confused about? He's hot. He can sing, he's loaded. He's perfect."

"….But...Is that all there is?"

Kairi looked confused. "What else is there?"

Sora looked completely shocked. 'Wow. I'm gonna pretend she didn't say that…Anyway…' "Are we okay now?"

"Yeah, Sure." Kairi crossed her arms. " Have fun with your one hit wonder lover boy. If your brother tries anything with my sister, I'll break his legs. Aside, from that….I'll work on myself. My real self. No more of this Mean girls crap."

"Good." Sora smiled. "I think I'd like to meet her, the real you. But then, I think I just did."

Kairi's eyes widened. Suddenly, something about Sora's smile made her heartbeat quicken in her chest. 'What the…?'

Sora panicked for a minute, realizing he had spoken with his real voice.

"Oh um whoops...I'm coming down with a cold." He added a fake cough for good measure. "So…let's go home."

"….Yeah…" Kairi slowly walked behind him.

'What the hell was that feeling just now? Scared the jeebies out of me.'

Sheesh. There you go. So hyped for kh ddd. Yup. Apologizing for the hiatus and any typos I may have missed. See you next time. it's finally time for the effing dance. And then a skateboard. We're getting there man.


	18. Please Put your pairings on hold

"_Good." Sora smiled. "I think I'd like to meet her, the real you. But then, I think I just did."_

_Kairi's eyes widened. Suddenly, something about Sora's smile made her heartbeat quicken in her chest. 'What the…?'_

_Sora panicked for a minute, realizing he had spoken with his real voice. _

"_Oh um whoops...I'm coming down with a cold." He added a fake cough for good measure. "So…let's go home."_

"…_.Yeah…" Kairi slowly walked behind him. _

'_What the hell was that feeling just now? Scared the jeebies out of me.'_

Updating quicker than usual with an important message at the end. Please stick around and pay attention.

Chapter 18: As we reach the Sadie Hawkins/Winter solstice dance, please put your pairings on hold.

Sora and Kairi appeared outside of the school grounds, unscathed. Sora wordlessly walked to his brothers' side. "Guys, let's go home."

"So.." Roxas asked as they boarded the trolley. "No Maiming? No torture? "

"Nope." Sora shrugged. "Just talking. Kairi has good motives under all that crazy."

"No fooling. So what're we eating later?" Squall said watching the town go by.

"I don't know…" Sora said. "Usually you're too busy to come over. What's the occasion?"

Squall looked ahead. "Oh, no reason."

Sora looked at him. "Did you have a fight with Rinoa?"

Suddenly Squall was defensive. "Why would that happen? Why can't I come over?"

Roxas blinked. "Uh….."

When they reached their house, Sora could hear music coming from the living room.

Confused, he stopped on the lawn. Roxas went on ahead, and Squall dragged him forward.

"Guys," Sora asked, "What's going on?"

Roxas opened the door, and Squall shoved him inside. The living room had been transformed into a fashion runway. Yuffie could be seen, peeking from behind a makeshift dressing room with a rack of clothes. Aerith sat on the couch, nodding happily at the music and holding a camera. They both looked up when Sora walked in.

"Finally!" Yuffie said, walking out., "Now we can get on with the show!"

"Wait-Wait-Wh-" Before Sora could comprehend his surroundings Yuffie was dragging him behind the curtain.

"STRIP."

He blushed. "Whoa! At least buy me a drink first…a chocolate shake." He shook his head. "But, seriously what is happening?"

"We're having a mini fashion show to decide what you're gonna wear to the dance!"

He glanced at the rack. Lace, crinoline, and puffy sleeves looked back at him.

"Now you're considered a girl next door type, so nothing too exciting." She picked up a long blue dress.

"This matches your eyes! Whaddaya think?"

"…." She took the dress from her hands. "I'll try it on , I guess."

"Good!" She turned her back. "Just tell me when you're done! And no, I'm not leaving. You might run off."

"R-Right…" Sora began taking off his school uniform.

Roxas and Squall waited patiently in front of the runway. Squall turned to Roxas. "Does Sora seem a little down lately?"

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, like he doesn't smile that much when no one is looking."

Squall crossed his arms. "I've been thinking for awhile, this cross-dressing plot isn't good for him."

Roxas looked guilty. "You're probably right…It's too much. I thought he was having fun for awhile, but…"

Yuffie appeared from behind the curtain again, beaming. "Our first outfit is from Chocolina!"

Sora appeared from behind the curtain in the blue dress, still wearing his sneakers and holding a matching clutch.

Yuffie continued her narration. "The dress brings out our model's eyes and drapes over her frame, disguising her non-existing-"

Sora stopped on the runway.

Roxas looked at him with concern. "Sora?"

"Huh?' Sora looked ay him. "Oh…I just…" He scratched his head. " I just thought it would be nice…If I could go as myself."

The 'Fashion show rapped up shortly after that. Sora tried to put on a good face for the rest of it, only to mope in his room for an hour afterwards. Roxas knocked on his door.

"Sora, someone's here to see you."

Sora tore his eyes from the blue dress hanging on his closet door. "Coming!"

He headed downstairs. Riku stood waiting at the front door. "oh, Hi Riku…"

Riku rolled his eyes. "Well, don't _you_ sound too excited to see me now."

Sora shook his head. "Sorry… Uh, come in."

"Now, I meant to ask, what color tie should I wear?"

"Huh?" Sora said, sitting down.

"Larxene and Marluxia told me I have to wear a tie that matches your dress. Or a shirt that does. Or something." The thought of matching seemed to be something Riku didn't do consciously.

Sora shrugged. "Really? Well It's blue…Like my eyes."

Riku smirked and Sora blushed. "That sounded less cheesy in my head."

But the blush soon faded, and Sora was staring at the floor again. "But, honestly…"

"Hm?"

"I don't want to go anymore."

Riku leaned back into the couch. "Oh?

"Yeah…"

"But, you promised."

"I know…I'm sorry, I just-"

"You promised."

"Yeah, and-"

"YOU. PROMISED."

Sora looked at him. "Yeah but-"

"You promised me. Therefore, you have to go."

Sora stared at him in disbelief. Riku went through odd moods, but this was a new one.

"Let me spell out for you," Riku said, draping an arm around Sora. "We're going to that dance, or, everyone finds out you're a boy. Simple?"

"WHAT?"

Roxas, hearing the shout, came out of his room. He appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Something wrong Sora? You alright?"

"We're fine!" Riku said, smiling.

Sora nodded. 'I can't get Roxas involved in this craziness' "Yeah, Riku just said he liked the M. Night Airbender movie and it scared me."

"What?" Roxas hung over the railing. "That flick was trash." He looked at Riku like he was crazy and left.

"Now, as I was saying. The Dance. We're going. Simple as that."

"Y-You can't make me! You have no proo-" Riku pounced on him. "Ahh!" And pulled up his shirt. Phone in hand, he took a picture of Sora, and his man-chest.

"GAH! TH-" Riku shoved a hand over Sora's mouth. Hush or I'll pull down your pants next."

"Mm!HnMn!" Sora stared at him in horror.

Riku slid the phone back into his pocket. "Blue right? Pick me up at eight sharp."

Riku left soon after that, leaving Sora to sit in a fetal position on the couch until dinner.

He stayed in a daze the rest of the evening, making his brother wonder what else Sora and Riku had talked about, and any other bad movies Riku may have admitted to liking.

In fact, Sora stayed in this state until math class, which unfortunately for him, Ms. lightning was conducting.*

"Sora!"

He blinked. "….?"

"Well? What's the answer to this?"

"Uh…" He looked at the board, a series of squiggles and numbers looked back at him.

"…..?"

"What is K?" She barked, starling him.

"K is, .14...928?" A quick guess.

She crossed her arms. "Wrong. Now-"

"Teacher." Riku had his hand raised as he sat slumped in his chair.

"What?" She snapped.

"It's right."

"How so Mr. Riku?"

He sat up in his seat. "Use chaos theory."

Whispers spread across the class.

"Mr. Riku, you have knowledge of chaos theory? That isn't taught until junior year here. Care to elaborate?""Sure." He got up slowly, and strolled to the front of the room.

"In this problem, we also have the variables f and x. Given the knowledge that f is in between .155747 and 1 and added to k gives us x(10).." He became silent, completing the problem on the board, covering it in possibilities.

"So you see", He said tapping the board, " .14990 can become .14928."

The bell rang.

Lightning nodded. "Good work. Class dismissed. Please, remember after winter vacation starts, do your homework. It's mandatory and counts toward your final grade."

The class slowly began to shuffle out after her warning. Before Sora could reach the door, she called him.

" Sora Hoshino."

"Yes miss?"

Lightning crossed your arms. " You need to put more effort into your studies. I'd like you to go see mister Cid in room 455 of the science wing."

"Now?"

"Now."

"Oh, Okay. Just one question?"

"Yes ?"

"Which Mister Cid?"

When he left the classroom, Riku was standing against the doorframe. " 'Sup."

Sora froze, then started walking. "No one says 'Sup anymore."

"Where are you headed?"

"The Science Wing."

"Which one?"

"Huh?"

"Well, Physics had a separate office near the Calculus department." Riku shook his head. "No, wait. I'm thinking of before."

"Before what?"

Riku tensed up for a moment his gaze shifted down the hall. "Nothing."

'The high school division hasn't been like that for two years now.'

They walked to the Science hall in silence and Sora saw it again. The picture of the young boy. _Ansem the third and friends at Twilight Academy._

"Riku…Do you…have a brother?"

"Hm?" Riku stopped walking. "Why the sudden interest in my family structure?'

"Oh, nothing. Just. I thought I saw someone who looked like you before?"

The calm façade was gone again, Riku's eyes were wide open. "Where?"

"Not in person or anything…Just a photo I saw somewhere."

"Oh." He continued walking.

Sora walked beside him, puzzled, until they reached the department.

"Here it is." Riku nodded at the door. " See ya later."

That was supposed to be longer….But I'm gonna start working on the next one right now! It's gonna be the finale of part one…Yeah.

*= subconscious pun. I see what I did there.


	19. Chapter 19: It always starts the same

_Chapter 19: It always starts the same way, underneath a blue sky..._

The night had finally arrived. Sora had just been stuffed into a sea blue dress with matching heels by Yuffie. Roxas was in living room, relaxing in his tux. While Sora was ignoring Yuffie's request for him to wear fake boobs Roxas was giving himself a pep talk.

'You're a guy, she's a girl. This isn't about anything. It's just a dance. She's gonna pick you up at 8 and you're gonna go have fun...and watch out for your brother. It's gonna be grea-'

"YUFFIE STOP SHOVING FAKE BOOBS DOWN MY CHEST!"

The bell rang. Roxas took a deep breath. "HUSH UP THERE!"

And walked towards the door. He found Kairi and Namine on his doorstep.

"Hi Roxas!" Namine smiled at him, and he felt his legs turn to jelly.

"Hi." He slumped slightly against the wall. "Come in…."

Just as the sisters took a seat on the couch, Sora called out:

"Hey! I'm co-" Before he went tumbling down the stairs and fell backwards on his head.

"Ow….."

Yuffie stared at him from the top of the stairs…."Ooooh….Sora you broke your heels!"

Namine and Kairi rushed to his side. "Sora!" "Sora!"

Sora sat up and groaned as the sisters each took one arm and pulled him up.

"Are you okay?" Roxas asked.

"Ow….Heels were a really bad idea." Sora looked down at the broken sparkly shoes. He shrugged and kicked them off. "Hold on…" He lifted his dress up and walked over to the doorway. Looking at the sneakers by the door he slipped them on. "Perfect."

Sora and co headed towards Riku's house in a pink limo, courtesy of the Shirou family. Only to find a giant sign on it that said:

'WE'RE AT THE DANCE ALREADY. MEET US OUTSIDE. NO ONE STEAL ANYTHING HERE WE HAVE A SECURITY SYSTEM.'

"Oh…kay…" Sora shrugged. "To the dance then."

Riku and Axel were waiting outside when they arrived. Riku wore a white shirt and blue tie-no blazer. Axel was in a red suit, looking like a pimp…for some reason.

"Hey." Riku was back to his sleepy self. "You look nice, Sora."

Sora blushed. "Oh…thanks. You look nice too."

Axel threw them a friendly wave. "Hey guys! I heard they have 15 kinds of desserts in there, including sea salt ice cream! Got that memorized?"

As they all walked in, Riku grabbed Sora's hand. "There's something I want to show you."

He lead Sora towards the stairs, away from the ballroom. Riku felt a hand on his shoulder. Roxas.

"Hey there." Roxas said.

"Hello yourself." Riku replied.

"Dude…" Roxas leaned in and whispered so Sora couldn't hear. "If you do something to my brother, I swear to Yen Sid, they will NOT be able to find your body. You dig?"

He pulled away.

"Right." Riku backed away. "I wont do anything _bad_, I promise."

Riku continued to lead Sora up to a place he had recently become acquainted with: The science wing. Sora stared briefly at a photo in a trophy case.

_Ansem the third and friends at Twilight Academy._

'Riku never really answered my question. Maybe he has a sibling he doesn't talk about.'

"We're here."

"Huh?"

Riku had brought him to a large white door, unlike any of the other classroom doors on that floor. He opened it to what seemed to be a control room that led to another looked like a sound proof booth. "Go in there."

"Huh." Sora did as he was told, and walked into the booth. He spoke to Riku through a glass window. "You're not going to zap into a computer or something, are you?"

Riku grinned. "Naw. You wouldn't last too long on the Grid."*

Sora laughed, and Riku pressed several buttons. "I wanted to show you something from a long time ago. Close your eyes."

Sora did as he was told again. 'I better not wind up in the digital world.'

After a moment he heard a whining noise, and Riku spoke. "Alright, open them."

Sora opened his eyes and gasped. The room around him had disappeared. "What the-"

Slowly, white orbs of light began to appear, twinkling. They were joined by other celestial bodies. Comets, Dwarf stars, Suns, and planets began to pop out.

Sora gaped at the universe around him. "Wow! It's amazing Riku! What is this?"

"It's a project I used to work on with some students from here."

"You helped make this? Wow….It's so cool."

"You can touch it if you want."

Sora jumped. Riku was suddenly standing beside him. Riku reached out and grabbed a star, placing it in Sora's hands.

Sora stared down at the little orb of light. He blushed. "Thanks for showing me this…"

Riku smiled, tilting Sora's face upward with his index finger. "You're welcome."

"Uh…" Sora's blush intensified, and Riku's grin spread wider. He moved a few stray strands of hair from Sora's face. Sora didn't flinch at his touch, he simply stared into Riku's eyes. Riku's hand lingered on Sora's face. They were both still for what felt like hours, until Riku moved forward, bringing his face closer to Sora's until finally-

"HEY SORA YOU'RE MISSING THE DANCE!"

Squall could be heard banging on the door. Riku stared in the door's direction in disbelief. Sora snapped from his daze as Riku walked towards the door and touched several buttons, taking Sora form the center of the universe back to the science lab.

Squall banged on the outer door several times before Riku opened it. "Hey….SQUALL."

A vein threatened to burst from Squall's head. "It's LEON."

"Sure thing SQUALL. We were just going to join you guys downstairs SQUALL. I just wanted to show Sora something SQUALL."

Squall crossed his arms. "Is that so?"

Rinoa stepped into the room. "See? Nothing's happening up here."

Squall rolled his eyes. "Sure…_NOW_."

The four of them walked back downstairs to the ballroom. Meanwhile, Roxas was dancing with Namine and Kairi was spending time with her new friend, the buffet table.

'What's Sora doing upstairs with Riku? Not that it's any of my business or anything.' She sipped pumpkin apple cider and watched Roxas and Namine twirl across the ballroom.

'It's just, they've been gone for awhile…Not that it matters to me…'

Riku, Sora, Squall, and Rinoa returned to the room.

Sora made a beeline for the buffet table.

"Axel was right…they DO have fifteen kinds of dessert! Hurray for private school!"

Kairi felt a weight lifted off her shoulders as Sora came closer. "H-H-Hey Sora."

"Oh Hi Kairi. Whatcha drinking?"

"Uh…punch-C-Cider! It's pumpkin apple cider!"

"Is it good?"

"Y-Yeah! It's pumpkinriffic!"

"Okay. I'll try some."

Kairi laughed nervously before heading off towards the bathroom.

'Oh my blob, what the hell is wrong with me? Pumpkinriffic? What the heck does that even mean?' Kairi threw out her cup and locked herself into a bathroom stall.

"I need to chill out. Breathe Kairi, breathe."

Sora was fixing a plate while Riku stood behind him, slightly irritated.

"Riku, aren't you going to eat?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Not hungry."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Not even a little bit."

"No."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Not even a liiiiitle bit."

"SOR-"

Sora shoved a cream puff into his mouth. Riku chocked before swallowing it whole.

"Seeee? That wasn't so bad."

Riku wiped off his face. "You could've killed me…"

"Naw. Nothing bad would've happened because-" Sora stroke a dramatic pose.

"_I_ know the _Heimlich maneuver_."

Riku started cracking up. "Oh man Sora…you're ridiculous!"

The rest of the night seemed to go smoothly. Squall spent half the night staring at Sora, and the other half dancing with Rinoa. Rinoa pulled him out onto the dance floor and into a clumsy waltz, while his instructor watched with a Cheshire cat smile. Axel and Kairi heated up the dance floor. Roxas chatted nonstop with Namine, and Riku tried unsuccessfully to sneak off with Sora. Five times.

The next morning Sora was baffled. Absolutely baffled. He wasn't even sure how, but it happened. And it involved a stick of butter and a bowl of microwavable popcorn. He sat there, eyes wide in confusion. It didn't make any sense to him. Some how, some way-

Sora had broken the TV with a stick of butter.

He was watching Youtube on the TV- thanks to something Roxas did- and was laughing at a moogle making funny noises when the stick of butter he'd been holding lodged itself into the television screen. After hearing a screech he realized had come out of his own mouth, He apologized to Roxas for thirty minutes straight.

"It's alright Sora, really. Besides we have a TV upstairs and we have internet. It's just a shame that we can't buy a new one soon….Mom's not sending us our monthly allowance for 3 weeks**. We'll just have to watch stuff upstairs for awhile. No big deal."

But to Sora, it was a big deal. He sulked for the rest of the day. As he was taking out the trash that afternoon, a poster on a pole caught his eye. He had seen this poster several times before, but now stopped to read it.

**TOTALLY RADICALL SKATEBOARD TOURNAMENT AT THE DESTINY MALL. ENTRANCE FEE 20 MUNNY. GRAND PRIZE IS A ZONY LSD3DTPWWE TELEVISION WITH SOUND THAT SURROUNDS!SECOND PRIZE IS 2,000 MUNNY, THIRD PRIZE IS-**

"That's perfect!" Luckily the tournament was starting in two hours. "I have more than enough for the entry fee, and I think I'm a good enough skater, I played that Tony Hawk game….Let's do this!"

Sora thoroughly disguised himself as a guy. He wanted to go as himself, but knew if people saw his face, they might question why Ms. Hoshino was dressing and sounding like a boy. So he dressed himself in a hoodie, a skull cap, a pair of shades, tied a flannel shirt around his waist and put on some baggy jeans and ripped sneakers. It wasn't his personal style, but he figured it was enough.

When he got to the mall, he saw a huge ramp had been put in the center of the first floor. Participants were still lining up. He took off his sunglasses and had a look at the crowd gathering. Quite a few familiar faces were scattered around; Hayner, Pence, and Olette were in line to compete, Tidus and Yuna stood on the sidelines with a few of their friends, Squall and Rinoa were walking into a nearby store, as were Kairi and Namine.

'Oh boy...there's just about a million chance to get caught in this one room.'

He saw Cloud and his teacher Lightning talking in front of a sporting goods store.

'Oh man…make that a million and two.'

That was when he noticed the principal across the room stroking his beard. Sora took a step back when someone grabbed his arm.

He looked up to see Riku, who proceeded to drag him to the boys' bathroom.

"Hey!"

Riku locked the door behind them. "Are you nuts? And why are you dressed like that?"

"It's nineties week-No, I came to win the prize money!" Sora sat on the row marble sinks.

"Do you want to be caught? Half the school is here! Someone is bound to notice-"

The bathroom door opened again, it was the principal himself. He looked at Sora.

"You there-" Sora slipped his shades on and looked downward.

Riku stood in front of him. "Hello sir! What brings you to the mall today?"

Eraqus nodded at him. "Just browsing Mister Riku. And you-"

"This is a cousin of the Hoshino twins…Say hello, er-"

"Sky." Sora muttered. "Sky….Lockhart."

"Well Mister Sky, it is nice to meet you. But first I must ask that you get form atop that sink."

Sora slid down slowly. "Uh…yes, sir." He continued to look at the floor.

Eraqus took a step closer and Sora looked at the wall. "Rather shy aren't you? Visiting?"

"Uh..Yeah…"

"Sor-" Riku cleared his throat. " Um, Sora and Roxas asked me to show Sky around while they-"

"Cleaned the house." Sora said. "They didn't know I was coming."

"Oh. Very good then. I hope you enjoy Twilight town. Now, If you'll excuse me."

Sora nodded and headed for the door. Riku followed after him. "Have a good day sir!"

When they got out, they found that sign ups were over.

"Oh no! How I'm supposed to get the money now?"

Riku crossed his arms. "What did you need the money for anyway?"

Sora tried to explain about the butter and the TV.

"Oh.." Riku scratched his head. "Hm…." His eyes rested on a sign. Party Universe was having a sale. "Hey…I have an idea."

"Huh?"

"Let's throw a party."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "A broken TV party?"

"No. We'll have a part at your house and charge admission-use the school site to end out invites. Get a DJ or a band together-We know enough people…Use the money you have for the tournament entrance fee to get supplies."

Sora nodded. "Wow! That could work! But its such short notice…"

Riku shrugged. "It's worth a shot. You want that TV don't you?"

"…."

After calling Roxas and Squall the Hoshino brothers (plus Riku) setup for a party. And it was a success. Plenty of kids showed up, and Tifa and Yuffie stayed as partying chaperones. The Shirou sisters showed up around ten.

"Who's the DJ?" Kairi said., pointing at Sora (in his masculine skater disguise)

"He looks kinda cute, even if you can't see his face."

Olette bumped into them. "Oh hey guys! That's the Hoshino's cousin, Sky."

"Sky…" Kairi looked at him again. "Speaking of them, where are the Hoshino twins?"

Olette pointed at the stairs, where Roxas was laughing and shuffling with Hayner. "There's one. Haven't seen Sora."

Kairi and Namine shuffled over to where Roxas was.

"Hey guys!" He yelled, knocking away a giant globe shaped balloon. "What's up?"

"Hey Roxas!" They called back in unison. "Where's Sora?"

Roxas glanced at his brother. "Uh...Sora…left. She's at a friends house."

Axel called to them from the top of the stairs. "You should talk to Sky instead! He's cool!"

Kairi gave him a nod and started towards Sora. Roxas attempted to slow her down but was stopped by a mass of giant disco ball balloons and Namine grabbing his arm.

Kairi poked Sora on the shoulder, making him look up from the turn tables. "Hey."

"Uh…Hey Kairi." Sora nodded at her.

She blinked. "How do you-"

"Who I've never met before but know through tagged photos on Roxas' page." Sora added, looking away.

"Oh…" Kairi looked way. "So…Are you visiting or-"

"Yeah, visiting."

"Nice to meet you." She shook his hand.

"Likewise."

"Not very talkative, huh?"

She grabbed his hand and wrote her number on it in permanent marker.

"Let me know when you wanna talk."

"Oh…Oh…kay."

With that she walked away, lost in a maze of shuffling people.

By one in the morning the party was over and Sora had enough to by the TV three times over. Roxas and Riku cleaned up while Sora tried to help but kept falling asleep in random places. He woke up on the porch sitting next to Riku, who had apparently been talking to him the entire time.

"I didn't really go to parties and stuff before I met you guys. When I was a kid I couldn't go out anyway. I was really sick and couldn't go anywhere. Well, we still went on vacations, but I was always left in hotel rooms. I remember one time we were somewhere in the Destiny Islands and this kid-"

Riku stopped talking, as Sora had grabbed his face.

"You."

"Hm?"

"That kid in the room who couldn't go out. That was you."

Riku pulled Sora's hands from his face and placed them in his. "You…. were the one with the sand?"

"It was awesome sand wasn't it?"

"…..Who helped me make my first sandcastle?"

"I guess so. Well, I'm glad I got to help with that. I always wondered if you ever got to go to the beach again. Now I know."

Riku chuckled. "Yeah. Have you been making sandcastles with random people this whole time?"

"No…" Sora shook his head. "That was the only time. After that I didn't get to go to the beach for awhile…Not until I started school here."

"Oh? Good."

"I'm glad we got to meet again." Riku said, stroking the back of Sora's hand with his thumb. "Yeah." Sora replied, resting his head on Riku's shoulder. Riku smiled, his hand caressing the side of Sora's face. Sora looked at him, half awake and smiled back. Riku leaned in and placed his lips against his. It was their first kiss, short but sweet. Riku broke the kiss, pulling Sora closer to him. "Hey…"

Sora blinked at him. "….."

Riku sighed and kissed his forehead. "Goodnight Sora." He kissed him again before carrying him inside and up to his room. Sora was asleep before they reached the stairs.

"Done?" Roxas asked. He stood in the doorway to Sora's room.

Riku laughed softly. "I hope we're not…"

"Hm?"

"Nothing." Riku said.

Roxas shrugged. "It's late…You can crash on the couch if you want."

Riku nodded. "Thanks."

Chapter title comes from Black Cat's Opening theme, Daia no Hana

*= Tron reference. Because you're worth it.

**= Yes, they have a mom, I mentioned her before. Like a bigillion years ago. I'M NOT CRAZY YOU'RE CRAZY!

I hope you forgive the large gap of time I didn't write. I tried my best to fill this one up and make good for a part one of the finale. Next time it's the end of EM:LE. No, I'm serious. I didn't let them kiss at the dance because I wanted Sora to be himself when they did.

Also, I'm planning on releasing a original story for NOOK on Barnes & Noble's Pub it! site. I hope you'll read that one when its done. Lots of explosions and cute guys set in a alternate universe London that is forever in a state of Victorian Steampunk with monsters. Wow, that was a long sentence.

P.S. I PRE-ORDRED KH3D MARK OF MASTERY AND I THINK I'LL PUT OUT THE NEXT CHAPTER RIGHT BEFORE IT COMES OUT TO HELP FILL YOUR SUMMER WITH KH GOODNESS

Neku: Nerd.

Sora: Hiiiiiiii Neku…

Neku: -_-

Sora: :D

Riku: '_'


	20. Chapter 20

_Chapter 20:Thinking of you, wherever you are._

Riku turned over on the couch. He had spent the night at the Hoshinos. Insomnia prevented him from sleeping most of the night and just as daylight approached, he found himself yawning, finally ready to sleep-

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOO!"

He sat upright and looked at the stairs. Sora was screaming about something. Before he could move he felt a gun blade on the back of his neck.

"WHO SAID YOU COULD SLEEP HERE?!"

It was Squall. Or Leon as he seemed to want to be called. Riku yawned.

"Roxas said I could." He heard Roxas upstairs, his voice muffled but filled with concern.

"What's wrong Sora?" Roxas stood in the doorway to the bathroom. His twin brother Sora was furiously scrubbing his hands at the sink. "Kairi's number! It wont come off my hand!"

"So?" Roxas yawned, still tired. "Oh wait…that means…"

"It means Kairi will wonder why I have her number on my hand in permanent marker when she had written it on Sky's. She's gonna figure out we're the same person and-"

"Oh." Roxas scratched his head. "Okay. Let's stay calm. School isn't until tomorrow. We have plenty of time to figure what to do. I'll ask on Googhoo Anwers."

"Yeah we-" Sora frowned. "What?! No! It always takes people on Googhoo Answers like 2 days to answer you! and then the question goes down after three!""Then I'll search for a similar question while I do it."

"Hm…Okay…"

They heard Squall muttering and the thud of his feet on the stairs. Squall had half dragged Riku up to the hallway and straight to them.

"Morning." Riku yawned.

Squall pointed at him. "What the hell is he doing here?!"

Roxas returned the greeting. "Morning. It was late when we finished cleaning, so I let him crash on the couch."

Seeing Riku's face, Sora recalled the previous night's events. He blushed crimson and looked away. 'He…I…He kissed me last night! How could I forget about that?!'

Squall let Riku go. "So what's the problem?"

"Sora cant get Kairi's number off his hand." Roxas explained. "Show 'em Sora."

"H-Huh?!" Sora blushed. "Oh…yeah…"

He held up his hand, it was red from all the scrubbing. Riku took his hand, and Sora's blush intensified.

"What did she write on it with?" Riku asked.

"S-Some kind of permanent marker…" Sora replied, looking anywhere but Riku.

Squall separated them. "Okay. For now I'll look for something to take that off. Roxas and Sora, go eat breakfast. Riku, go home."

They said their goodbyes and Squall walked Riku to the door. In the end, they could not get the number off Sora's hand. The next morning Roxas covered it up with tape and bandaged it. "Just try to keep it covered until we get back home."

Sora slumped into his seat at their usual table at breakfast. Roxas draped his school bag over his chair, standing up. "Come on Sora, let's get something to eat." He noticed Sora was staring at the table. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not hungry for once."

"Really?" Roxas felt his forehead. "Are you sick or something?"

"Maybe. Pick me up a buttered roll."

"Kay. I'll be back." Roxas said, walking over the line.

Just then Kairi and Namine entered, waving at Roxas, and then going to sit with Sora.

"Hello Sora." They said in unison.

Sora waved, sliding his hand under the table. "Hey guys…girls…"

"We went to the party your brothers had." Kairi said, putting down her bag.

"It was really fun." Namine added, putting down her bag at the same time.

Kairi and Namine began left to get their breakfast and returned with Roxas and Axel. Sora tried to keep up with their conversation but stopped listening when he saw Riku come into the room.

Riku nodded in their direction and Sora felt his face growing hot.

'Oh man...I can't take it…It's too awkward!' Sora stood up. "Uh...The bathroom! I gotta go there!" He grabbed his bag and walked out of the room. Namine blinked in confusion, Kairi glanced at Sora's bandaged hand. Riku watched Sora go.

"Did something happen between you and Sora?" Namine asked.

Kairi sipped her water. "And what was with her hand?"

Roxas bit into his bagel. "She, uh…burned it…making a grilled cheese sandwich?"

Sora spent the day staring at his hand and avoiding Riku's gaze before lunch. When the bell rang he began to make a dash for the bathroom, before Roxas grabbed his arm.

"What's the deal?" He whispered in Sora's ear.

"Can't talk about it now." He glanced back and saw Riku and the Shirou twins walking behind them. "Too much awkwardness." He saw a supply closet. "Perfect!"

He dragged Roxas inside of it.

"Okay." Sora took a deep breath. "So…I don't have a lot of time to explain this before someone catches us in here, but Latelyihavebeenhavingallthes eweirdthoughtsaboutrikunoIdo n'tmeanitlikthatIjustwasntsure howIfeltabouttheguyandaftert hepartythatnighthekissedmean dIdidntstophimand…."

Sora stopped for breath.

"And..?" Roxas said.

"It's awkward."

"Well, I guess I can understand that. But, like you said, you didn't stop him when he kissed you. So…"

The door opened. "Time for lunch." Squall said, looming over them.

They found the Shirou twins and Riku waiting outside the door.

"Hey Sora." Kairi said. "I heard about your hand."

Sora backed away. "…Yeah?"

"I've got a great cream for burns." She grabbed his hand and stuck her other hand inside her bag. Sora struggled in her grasp. "N-No! I'm fine really!"

Kairi ignored him, still looking in the bag. "It will only take a sec…"

"Uh-Rox…" Roxas was too busy talking to Namine to notice. 'Hey!'

Sora thought all hope was lost, when suddenly Riku grabbed his wrist and began dragging him away. "Riku?!"

Riku didn't look back. His grip on Sora's wrist was tight and Sora was almost certain it was going to leave a mark. He dragged Sora into a empty chemistry lab and sat him down on one of the stools. He then walked over to the cabinet and pulled out several jars and bottles, measuring their contents and adding them to a beaker.

Riku mixed the beaker's contents until they melded into a blue milky substance. He then poured some of the solvent in Sora's open palms. "Rub it on your hand."

Sora did as he was told, rubbing the substance until it stuck to the spot.

"Let it sit for a minute." Riku said, sitting on a stool across from him. He held Sora's hand in his. They sat in silence for a moment. Sora was suddenly aware of the hum of the lights above them, the quiet from the now empty hall, as everyone was already having lunch.

"Sora, why are you avoiding me?"

"Huh?" Riku's voice had penetrated the silence so quickly Sora wasn't even sure he had spoken at first. "I'm not." He looked at the floor.

"Then how come you haven't looked me in the eye since that night?"

_That night. _Sora swallowed hard. "I…it's not like that…I-"

Riku lifted Sora's chin with his index finger. "Then what's it like?"

Sora, unable to look away, sighed. "Can I be completely honest with you?"

Riku huffed. "I wish you would."

"Before I came to Twilight Academy…" He paused. "Before I even came to Twilight Town…I didn't really know my family. I didn't have any friends. Shortly after I met you My parents got a divorce. Mom kept Roxas. Dad kept me. Squall went from boarding school to Twilight Academy."

" I lived with my Father in Radiant Garden. Dad was...is…kinda important so we lived up in this skyscraper. I wasn't allowed to go outside, he had me home schooled, and even though we lived together I didn't really see him. I hung out with my cousin Ven and my caretakers: Aqua and Terra. It wasn't 'til recently that I got in contact with Roxas. Ven helped me move in with Mom and Roxas…next thing I knew I was applying for high school."

Riku released Sora's chin. Sora looked down at his hand.

"So…I mean...I finally have friends, and that's nice…" He looked at Riku. "But I barely know you. Or any of them for that matter I don't think I'm ready for…anything else. ."

Riku peeled the solvent that morphed into a adhesive off of Sora's hand.

"Sounds like you've had it rough." Kairi's phone number was gone.

"It wasn't that bad…I mean Santa still sent me presents, so…"

Riku blinked. "Santa?"

"Yeah. Santa Claus. On Christmas? I wonder how he got in…?" Sora scratched his head.

Riku sat back on the stool. 'Hold on…I think he's serious.'

"…Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you still believe in-"

Several masked figures ran into the room, picked up Riku and Sora, dropped Sora off in the lunchroom and put Riku in the teacher's lounge. One of the masked figures locked the door. Riku. now sitting at the of a conference table, watched as the masked figures removed their hoods. 'Mr. Barret, Dean Cid, Ms. Lockhart, Rinoa and Squall?'

Squall crossed his arms. "You can't tell Sora there isn't a Santa Claus."

Riku sat up in the chair, looking shocked. "You mean he still believes?"

"Of course he does." Tifa sat on the edge of the table. "No one's ever told him otherwise."

Cid shrugged. "Sora grew up in the city with his Dad. He never got to see the outside world."

"Until now." Squall shook his head. "So he doesn't know Santa isn't real. You can't tell him."

"You'd break his heart." Rinoa said. "Leon told me Sora never had any friends or anything. Every year he would look forward to his visit from Santa. It's all he had for a long time."

"…." Riku shuffled in his seat. "But I can't just lie to him…and what if someone else-"

"You're either with us or against us." Barret said.

"Fine." Riku moved the bangs from his eyes. "I wont tell. I promise."

Riku kept his promise and did not utter a word of Santa's 'non-existence' up to the day of Chrismahanakwanzika eve. On Chrismahanakwanzika eve, the Hoshino's invited Riku and his family over to celebrate. Riku explained that his parents weren't big believers of Chrismahanakwanzika. He, Axel and Denzel showed up at noon.

The Hoshino house had been covered in fake snow, inside and out. The Chrismahanakwanzika tree, kenorah, menorah and kente cloth had all been laid out. Icicle lights were hung every possible. Riku walked into the house slowly.

'Is this Sora's house or a department store display?'

Sora approached him in a Red and green sweater depicting a scene of Santa riding his sleigh. He held up three matching ones. "Happy Chrismahanakwanzika!"

Riku took the sweater reluctantly. "Happy…uh…yeah…"

Squall lit the Kenorah while Roxas sat on the couch watching a stop-motion animation movie about the true meaning of Chrismahanakwanzika. They spent the rest of the day celebrating before they all camped out on the floor in front of the Chrismahanakwanzika tree.

Riku woke up just before midnight. Sora was sleeping next him under a blanket on the couch. Riku stared across the room at the open window. Stars twinkled in the night sky. He was surprised he had fallen asleep and gotten any sleep at all. He glanced Sora and everyone else in the room. The clock read 11:58. Riku was about to go back to sleep when he heard a sound outside the window.

The window slowly lifted, a pair of gloved hands appeared through the window. Riku jumped up, dropping his blanket and looking for a weapon. 'A burglar?'

Grabbing a poker from the fire escape he walked towards the window. However, instead of finding a masked man (or woman) He found the last person he thought he'd ever see.

"90s Movie icon Tim Allen?"*

Tim Allen shushed him. " Help me through the window kid!"

Now considering this to be a dream, Riku shrugged and helped the actor through the window. "Kay." Tim Allen tugged a large velvet sack in after him and began placing presents around the Chrismahanakwanzika tree. Riku just watched him. not questioning why the actor was dressed like Santa Claus. He glanced around to see if there were any hidden cameras. He heard a yawn. Sora had woken up and was now rubbing his eyes.

"S-Sora!" Riku stared at him. "Uh…this is…"

"Hey Santa." Sora said, getting up. "Hold on. I'll get it."

Sora walked into the kitchen and started making coffee. He took out a can of whip cream and caramel dressing. Mixing the ingredients together he returned to Tim Allen. "Here you go. One Caramel Macchiato."

"Thanks Sora." Tim Allen took a sip of the drink. "You're getting good at this."

Sora looked at Riku. "Oh, do you know each other?"

Riku shook his head. "Nuh uh…"

"Well, I'm off. See you next year." Tim Allen proceeded to leave through the window.

"Bye Santa!" Sora whispered/yelled, closing the window after Tim.

"So…" Riku spoke. pinching himself to make sure he was awake. "You know Tim Allen?"

"Who? Oh Santa?" Sora replied. "Yeah, he comes once a year to deliver presents like he does with everyone else."

Riku sat back down on the couch. "Right. No Sora, that doesn't happen…"

"Really? Y'sure? Maybe it hasn't happened to you because you didn't believe before. Well, I'm going back to bed. Good night!"

The following morning (or a few hours later) Roxas explained the situation to Riku in the kitchen.

"Our Dad hired Tim Allen to come visit Sora and I every Chrismahanakwanzika and bring us presents. I figured out the deal awhile back, but Tim is practically family now. We asked him to stop when Sora is Twenty one."

Riku sipped his eggnog. "Wow. I thought my family was rich. That's…something else."

Roxas shrugged. "We just want to keep Sora happy. You understand."

Riku watched Sora and Squall in the living room putting a racecar set together. "Yeah."

The holiday had completely taken Sora's mind off his relationship with Riku. Soon it was time for the next big holiday, St. Paopu.

During homeroom, Pamphlets about after school activities were handed out.

"When you begin your second year at Twilight Academy, there will be a hour of free time added to your daily schedule. It is required for all Twilight Academy students to join a club or find a activity to do at this time." Their teacher explained. "The pamphlet contains a list of available school teams, clubs, and activities that can be joined next year. Clubs highlighted in red will be disbanded if new members do not join."

Sora read through the pamphlet. 'There's a bunch of things in here…Tennis, Light Cycle riding, Classical Literature, Light music, Fencing, Glee, Anti-Glee, Host club…What was that thing Squall did again?'

At lunch Sora asked his older brother about the clubs he participated in.

"Music appreciation." Squall answered. " It's the club Mom and Dad were in when they went here. I don't really have time for it though, because I joined SEED."

"Oh…" Sora said. He felt a know in his stomach. After next year, Squall would be graduating and becoming a full time SEED member. "What did you do in Music appreciation?"

"No much. We had a band. We played at school dances. We had a room in the pearl wing-that building designated for school clubs. There's instruments and recording equipment and other stuff in there. You should join it."

"Cool." Roxas said, eating a French fry. " Sounds like it'll be awesome."

"I'd like to join to!" Namine spoke. "But….I was already joining the Life drawing club."

"You can join more than one." Riku said, propping his head up on his hands.

"I wanna join too then." Kairi said. "We could start a band. Play at the next Prom."

Chatter about the club riled up and ceased just before the bell rang.

That afternoon, Sora and Riku were sitting on the couch…well, Sora was sitting on the couch while Roxas paced around the room.

"What's up Roxas?"

" 's! That's what's up! I want to get something for Namine but…"

"Give her a Paopu fruit." Sora said, lying back against the cushions. "That's what people do right? Share the 'fruit of destiny' with the one they love."

Roxas frowned at him. "Easy for you to say! Don't you think that's too forward?!"

Sora shrugged. "Kinda. Not really….No."

Roxas pointed a finger at him him. "Oh yeah? Well, how would you feel if RIku wanted to share one with you?"

"What?" Sora blushed. "Th-That's different!"

"How so?"

"It just is!" Sora crossed his arms. "A-And anyway….Paopu fruit aren't just for people you…l-l-like. It's something you share with someone you want to be in your life forever…like a friend…or a dog….Or…" He huffed and turned sideways, curling up on the couch. "…"

Roxas sighed. "I just…don't' know what to do."

Sora sat up. "Why don't you ask Squall then?"

"I dunno…He might try to give me 'The talk' or something."

Sora laughed at that. "Ha ha! You're right!"

During the month of 's, the school decided to open up its kitchens and wood shops to give students creative room to make their gifts. Baking and sculpting workshops were opened and gave out extra credit. Sora, not wanting to pass up on cake, joined the baking class with his usual set of friends in tow.

The students were divided into teams. Sora found himself working with Kairi. He saw Roxas and Riku partnered up at another table. Feeling himself turn red, Sora looked out the window and tried not to think about what Roxas had said before. _Riku? Paopu fruit? _The thought made his head spin. Sharing a Paopu meant you wanted to be together liked all his friends, and he wanted to be with them for as long as possible, but…

Riku watched as Kairi explained the dessert hey were making: a Paopu tart with cream and Paopu glaze. Sora nodded occasionally, getting flour here and there while Kairi laughed. Riku turned his attention back to Roxas, who was staring at the ingredients like they had taken his money.

Riku yawned. "What's wrong?"

"Four days." Roxas replied, clutching a spoon.

"Hm?" Riku replied. "Four days for what?"

"Four days until 's! I still…" He looked down at the table. 'I still don't know-'

"What to give Namine?" Riku asked and Roxas nearly jumped out of his skin, putting a hand of Riku's mouth.

"Shh! But, how did you know?"

"It's kinda obvious." Riku said, peeling Roxas' hand away. "What's the big deal?"

"I…just don't know what to do…give her a paopu…or chocolate…or something…I don't know!"

"Why does it have to be a physical thing?" Riku said, mixing several ingredients together. "Why can't it be something only you can give?"

"Not a thing?" Roxas asked.

"Not a thing." Riku repeated.

"Only I can give?" Roxas repeated.

"Only you can give." Riku nodded.

"But-"

"Here." Riku said, poking Roxas in the chest, right over his heart. "You have it here. Now figure out how to show it to her."

Roxas stared down at the spot. 'How do I give her…my heart?'

Meanwhile Kairi was preparing the Paopu glaze while Sora put the Tart's crust in the oven. "Sora…Have you ever shared a Paopu fruit with a guy?"

"Yeah…" Sora said, checking the temperature.

Kairi felt something thud in her chest. "**Who**?" 'Why do I sound jealous?'

"My brothers." Sora replied. "Why?"

Kairi breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh. I shared one with a guy once. Two guys in fact."

"Yeah?"

"Yup. I was a little kid, and I was at this resort in the Destiny Islands. It was the last day of the trip. Namine and I were playing with these twin boys." Kairi turned down the fire under the glaze. "The brunette one climbed a tree and we shared a star shaped fruit, all four of us. He said it meant we would see each other again." She smiled. " I didn't know what Paopu were back then. But, I knew I wanted to meet them again…"She picked up a Paopu fruit. "That boy was my first love y'know? Whenever I'm at the islands, I go looking for him."

"O-Oh…" Sora blushed. 'Kairi…you… remembered….' Before anymore could be said, their tart started to burn.

For the next three days Roxas locked himself in his room after school. Finally on the day of 's, he was ready. Sora on the other hand, was still a puddle of confusion when it came to Riku. After school, with Squall's permission, Roxas dragged Namine to the Music Appreciation clubroom. It was a large space with couches, equipment, the whole shebang.

Namine sat down as Roxas instructed and he cleared his throat. "I wasn't really sure, what I should do…I mean, I wanted to give you something, I wasn't sure what to give you for the longest time." He sat back on a stool, strapping on a guitar. "But I figured it out." He strummed the guitar strings as a melody started to form. "Y'see…Namine-"

"_I don't want another pretty face, I don't want just anyone to hold. I don't want my love to go to waste….I want you and your beautiful soul….I know, that you… are something special…To you I'd be always faithful.. I want to be what you always needed-Then I hope you'll see the heart in me…""I don't want another pretty faceI don't want just anyone to holdI don't want my love to go to wasteI want you and your beautiful soulYou're the one I wanna chaseYou're the one I wanna holdI wont let another minute go to wasteI want you and your beautiful soul….""Yeah…You might need time to think it over. But I'm just fine, moving forward…I'll ease your mind, If you give me the chance…I will never make you cry c`mon let's try-""Am I crazy for wanting you?, Maybe do you think you could want me too?, I don't wanna waste your time, Do you see things the way I do?, I just wanna know that you feel it too, There is nothing left to hide, I don't want another pretty face…"_"_I don't want just anyone to holdI don't want my love to go to wasteI want you and your beautiful soulYou're the one I wanna chaseYou're the one I wanna holdI won't let another minute go to wasteI want you and your soulI don't want another pretty faceI don't want just anyone to holdI don't want my love to go to wasteI want you and your beautiful soul…"_

Riku and Sora listened out in the hallway.

"Sounds like its going well." Sora whispered. They sat on the polished marble floor, complete streaks of silver and embedded pearls, glistened in the light.

"Mmhm." Riku responded, looking down at him.

Sora looked up at Riku for a moment. Riku wasn't being pushy or weird at all today. Riku pulled a small pack of homemade candy from his pocket and began chewing a piece. "Want some?"

Sora nodded, he was hardly ever one to pass up on candy. Riku dropped a piece into Sora's palm and Sora pooped it into his mouth. The taste was sweet yet sour, something vaguely familiar…Something he had definitely tasted before…In the islands…Destiny Islands…Paopu fruit.

Sora's eyes widened. He stared at Riku, who wore a playful, all-knowing smile. "YOU-" Riku pressed his lips against Sora's, both silencing him and making him swallow the candy . He broke the kiss, placing a hand over Sora's mouth and whispering in his ear. "Shh." Sora was redder than usual, but Riku couldn't tell if he was angry or embarrassed. Sora bit his hand. Definitely angry.

Sora glared at him and Riku chuckled softly. It hadn't hurt much, and Sora was adorable when he was mad. So Riku decided to make Sora even angrier by telling him so.

"You're cute when you're mad." He whispered.

"Shut up." Sora spoke through his teeth. "Y-You!"

Riku hushed him again. He heard footsteps. He turned his head and looked down the hall. No one was there. 'Must have been a janitor or something….'

Riku was wrong. It hadn't been a janitor. It was Kairi. Kairi stood around the corner, down the hall, out of sight. She had seen Riku's rough display of affection, she has heard Sora's all too male sounding voice. And it sounded a little familiar. Like Sora's cousin, Sky. Kairi shook her head at the thought. It sounded silly, like a cheesy teen movie.

'As weird as it sounds…And it _is_ weird….Could Sora and Sky be the same person?'

She peeked around the corner again. Riku had Sora into his lap, and she wasn't pushing his hands away. "Want some more candy?" Riku asked, snickering.

Sora blushed. "No…"

The door to the classroom opened and Roxas walked out with his arm around Namine. Sora managed to slip out of Riku's grasp.

"You guys!" Roxas pointed in disbelief. "Were you eavesdropping?!"

"Nope." Riku said, standing up. "We were just hanging out in this empty hallway."

Kairi hid behind the corner again and turned to run, bumping into a familiar face.

"Mister Eraqus!"

The man looked down at her, stroking his beard. "Classes have ended for today. And Club Activities are not in session. What are you doing here?"

"Uh..Um…." She heard a laugh. "Sora-"

"Sora?" Eraqus repeated.

"It's nothing! I just thought I saw my friends come up here." She said loudly, hoping to get their attention. "I think they wanted to see what the building was like. You know how it is…We only have spring semester and then Summer vacation starts-"

"And then we have to pick something." Riku said coming around the corner. "Sorry Kairi, we must have left you behind."

Sora was under his arm, looking scared. "H-Hi Sir…"

Roxas gestured towards the hallway. "We heard the rooms were really impressive."

"I'm sorry…" Namine said, blinking at him with huge blue eyes. "It was my idea."

"Hm…" Eraqus looked at Riku and Sora something about them struck him as odd.

"Please leave the area. You should head home."

Roxas was happier than usual when they got home. Sora decided not to pry, the dreamy look on Roxas' face told him everything he needed to know. He remembered Kairi's face when the turned the corner. 'Why did she look so sad?'

Eraqus sat in his study. Operating hours had long passed at Twilight Academy. Still, something was nagging him. It was the way Ms. Shirou reacted when she saw Riku and Sora. He decided to take a look at their school records…and found some strange holes. Riku had no previous education on record. And Sora's essay and information had been submitted twice. However, there only a few differences in her applications-like the child's _gender_.

Sora felt a chill go down his spine. The cold weather was disappearing form Twilight Town, he could walk outside in a hoodie and not get cold. He thought about Kairi, who remembered him as a child.

'_That boy was my first love y'know? Whenever I'm at the islands, I go looking for him.'_

He felt a surge of emotions he didn't understand. Kairi always felt like a important friend, and their connection was getting stronger. 'I wonder what she would think though, if she knew the boy from her childhood, and the girl she hangs out with are the same person.' He frowned. 'I wanna tell her, but I don't want her to be mad…I just don't wanna lie to her anymore. She's shared a lot with me, it isn't fair.'

And then there was Riku.

'_You…. were the one with the sand?' _

Riku was definitely more than a friend, that was for sure. He made it very clear how he felt about Sora, and he didn't seem to care which gender he was. He enjoyed being with him, yet he felt scared whenever they were alone. Only twice had he let himself succumb to his feelings for Riku, and more than twice Riku had tried to bridge the gap between them.

Sora groaned. Between the two of them, he couldn't tell which way was up anymore.

"Arrgh…Why does everything have to be so hard?"

But fortunately and yet, unfortunately, things were about to become a lot more clear for Sora, Riku, and Kairi. Monday morning Eraqus called Sora into his office.

Sora was already messed up from thinking about Riku and Kairi all night.

"You wanted to talk sir?"

Eraqus sat behind his desk, fingers laced together. "Have a seat."

Sora did as he was told. "…"

"I only have one question Sora. Are you keeping something from the school?"

Sora was suddenly very aware of his situation. "Keeping…something…?Me? No. Nope. Not a thing. No…."

Eraqus sighed. "Are you sure?"

Sora shifted in his seat. "No…"

"Oh dear." Eraqus rubbed his temples. "I didn't want to do this."

He pushed a button on his desk. A secretary walked in. "We're going ahead with the ten o'clock assembly. Sora, you will wait in the auditorium, behind the curtain."

Riku was about to doze off when the school intercom came to life.

"Attention, There will be a assembly at 10:15 a.m. in the Windsor auditorium. All Students and Faculty must attend." The message repeated. Riku glanced back at Sora's seat. 'Sora's still gone…Meeting in the auditorium…Don't tell me…' Riku stood up. "I gotta go…." He walked to the door, ignoring the teacher's response. "…yeah….Bye." Ignoring the hall monitor he mad a dash for Eraqus's office. Not seeing anyone inside he went for the auditorium. There he found Sora onstage.

"What did Eraqus say?" Riku asked. He was sure this sudden assembly couldn't be good news.

"He just asked me if I was hiding something, and I said no…." Sora hear the school bell ring. Students began to file into the auditorium.

"This won't end well." Riku grabbed Sora's arm. "Let's get out of here-"

The curtains slid open. Eraqus frowned at them. "Oh good, you're here too, Mr. _Riku_."

A podium rose up from the floor. Eraqus began too speak. "Quiet." A hush went over the room. "I brought this assembly into order because the face of this school was in danger of changing. And do you know what I mean by the face of this school? The students. The faculty. The Alumni. As a member of the Twilight Academy Family you represent everyone else involved in this school. And at this school you must follow this creed: to represent us with honor, dignity, and honesty. But, unfortunately…" He looked at Sora. "Some of you aren't being honest with your family."

Sora froze. 'Oh no….'

"When I called you into the office earlier Sora, it was so that you could admit the truth to me…your final chance. But, you did not. And now I must reveal you to everyone **Mister** Sora _Shinra_."

Hearing his real name and the gasps and murmurs of the crowd, Sora wanted noting more than to crawl into a deep hole and never come out.

"You applied for the scholarship twice, one as a boy, once as a girl. But never as yourself." Eraqus stared down at him and Sora looked away. "And I can't understand how Dean Highwind did not see the mistake. Or any of my staff for that matter. Was it so important to get into this school that you would mask your true gender? I know your father would have been able to pay the tuition-"

Sora saw Roxas in the crowd, trying to make his way down to the stage. "It was-"

"It's not all his fault." Riku snapped. "If I hadn't been selfish and decided to go to High school again, he probably would've gotten in the first time."

Eraqus nodded. "You somewhat correct Mister Riku. Or should I call you _Ansem the third_?"

More talk and surprise from the crowd.

Riku crossed his arms, glaring at the crowd. "Yeah, that's right. I'm grandson of the man himself, Ansem the wise. Ansem the third, So what?"

Sora recalled the photograph of the boy. Riku wasn't his brother, they were the same person.

"You enrolled in this school for a second time," Eraqus replied. "You've already graduated, seven years ago. that's what."

Riku narrowed his eyes at Eraqus. " I didn't learn much the first time-or rather, all I did is learn. High school is a lot different when you're eight years old. And Twilight University was even more boring. So I figured I'd go to school with people my age for a change." He looked at Sora. "Had I known you were up for the slot Sora, I would've let you take it."

"I know." Sora said, sadly. "But I shouldn't have lied anyway. But there was no way I was getting into this school as myself. My father would never had allowed it…It was home schooling or nothing at all."

Eraqus quirked an eyebrow. "Are you telling me that Rufus Shinra has kept you home schooled all this time?"

"Rufus Shinra?" Pence repeated, deep in the crowd. "THE Rufus Shinra?"

"The one who runs Shinra corp, the company behind almost everything from what we watch to what we eat?" Olette added.

"SORA'S A GUY?!" Hayner exclaimed, shocked.

Pence and Olette rolled their eyes. "Yes."

Kairi stared at the stage. "All this time…"

"I just wanted to be outside those walls. " Sora sighed. " I wanted to see the town where my parents grew up and the school they went to. I always heard great stories about Twilight Academy and what it had to offer. I guess it wasn't meant to be." He turned towards the audience. "I'm sorry. It was a stupid idea."

Squall had grabbed Roxas, preventing him from getting on stage. He had just reached the row where their friends sat.

"Let go Squall! This was my idea! I should get in trouble too!"

Squall held him firm. "No. As your older brother, he's doing the right thing. It's obvious that you were in on it, but he went through with it."

"I can not allow either of you to continue this semester. Sora Shinra, You will return your text books, write a letter of apology to the board, faculty, student body, And…" He put a hand on Sora's shoulder. "Take another placement test and write a twenty page paper on why we should let you continue with us this fall."

"Huh?" Sora blinked. "You mean…"

"Depending on the board and staff's decision, you may be allowed to continue Sophomore year."

Sora smiled and hugged him. "Really?! Thank you!"

Eraqus was taken aback by the sudden hug. "But, it goes without saying that you can't stay at Twilight Academy Ansem-"

Riku rolled his eyes. "I know-"

"As a student." Eraqus finished, detaching himself from Sora. "I'd like to speak to you in my office. This Assembly is dismissed."

The three of them walked off stage, Sora towards his brothers and Riku off with Eraqus. The Hoshino brothers walked through a side exit, where they found the Shirou twins plus Hayner and his gang. Sora was ready to apologize to each and everyone of them, especially when he saw the look in Kairi's eyes. "Kairi…"

"You lied to me!" She yelled at him. "How could you lie to me like that?!"

Sora, startled, took a step back. "I didn't want to-"

"I-I told you things! Things I never told anyone." Tears spilled down her face. "And you…you…" Kairi turned on her heel and ran away.

"Kai-" Squall grabbed Sora's shoulder. "Let her go. You have to go home now."

Tifa appeared looking slightly uneasy. "Looks like you got caught Sora."

He shrugged. "Looks like it."

"Oh well." Tifa took out her cell phone. "I'll call Cloud and he can take you home."

Cloud appeared in minutes and drove Sora home on his motorcycle. Sora watched the town go by in a blur. His thoughts were still on Riku, who was now Ansem, and Kairi, who was now furious with him. 'Riku won't be a student anymore… and Kairi…probably won't be my friend…'

They reached the Hoshino residence. Sora hopped off, thanked Cloud for the ride, and watched him drive off. When Squall and Roxas returned they found Sora typing apology letters on their laptop.

"Hey." Roxas said, plopping down on the cushion next to him. "I'm suspended."

"Really?" Sora replied.

Squall walked into the kitchen. "Yeah. We both are. For two weeks."

"Sorry." Sora said.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "You shouldn't be sorry, Sora. We lied too. This was my idea anyway!"

Soon night fell, and Sora was done writing apology letters. He had e-mailed them off to everyone he knew. "There's still two people I have to talk to in person."

Sora put on a hooded sweatshirt and walked to Kairi's house. He was at the front gate when he heard a voice. "She's not there."

He turned around to see Riku appearing from nowhere. "Oh….Ansem."

Riku flinched at the name. "Oh man….Don't call me that."

Sora crossed his arms. "It's your name."

Riku shook his head. "Yeah, on _paper_. Grandpa called me Riku."

"And when were you going to tell me that you were a certified genius?"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "You googled me?"

"Yes. Yes I did, Mister Masters in Physics with a focus in Chrono-science and a degree in Mathematics at age twelve."

"I would have told you eventually…"

"Riiiiiiight."

"Sora." RIku towered over him. Sora wanted to run, but decided not to flee from the close contact. Riku move several stray bangs from Sora's eyes. "You have to believe me. I would have told you had there been more time."

"Well…" Sora said, taking Riku's hand. "Now I have nothing but time. Where's Kairi?"

Riku rolled his eyes, annoyed with the change in subject. "She ran off earlier, apparently. Her parents are looking for her. Any idea where she went?"

"Hm…" Sora swung Riku's hand back and forth. "When does the ferry to the island stop running?"

Riku shrugged. "Midnight I think."

"Awesome." Sora pulled Riku after him. "Let's go!"

The hopped on a trolley to the bus, and then took the bus to the docks. Soon they were on a ferry to the islands. After searching for what felt like hours, they found Kairi on one of the smaller islands, sitting on the beach. She held a bottle in her hand, staring at the paper inside of it.

"Kairi!" Sora yelled, causing her to turn and see him running towards her with Riku in tow.

She looked tired and forlorn, wearing a windbreaker over her uniform. "Sora…Riku…"

"What are you doing here?!" Sora grabbed her arm. "Come on, we have to get to the mainlands-The ferry is going to stop running soon!"

"…." She looked at Riku for a moment then back to Sora. "Wait." She handed him the bottle. "Take this."

Riku checked his watch. "We have twenty minutes to get back."

"Right…" Sora stuffed the bottle in his pocket and grabbed Riku's hand, pulling Kairi with him. "Come on, let's go!"

The three of them made a run for the other side of the island and stating heading back, only to see the Ferry leaving in the distance. They returned to the beach and holed themselves up in a empty hut. Sora called Squall and Roxas, only to find that he had no signal, Kairi tried to text her sister but wasn't sure if the message arrived.

Kairi fell asleep on a patch of straw in the corner. Riku looked out the window, seeing clouds form. Sora sat on the floor against the wall, shivering. He pulled the bottle from his pocket and pulled out the letter, staring at it. Riku joined him on the floor, putting a arm around him. "What's it say?"

Sora leaned on his shoulder. "It's a letter she wrote to me…but it looks like half of it was written before she knew who I was."

"That letter came back to me." Kairi said. She crawled over to where they were and sat on the opposite side of Sora. "But, someone else answered me. I wrote the first line."

Now stuck between them, Sora put his concentration on the letter:

**Thinking of you, wherever you are….**

**We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend. Now I will step forward to realize this wish. And who knows: starting a new journey may not be so hard, or maybe it has already begun. There are many worlds, and they share the same sky - one sky, one destiny**.

Sora smiled. "That's nice…I wonder who wrote back."

Riku stared at the paper. "I know who wrote that. My grandfather."

Kairi stared at him in disbelief. "You Grandfather who has been dead for years?"

Riku glared at her. "_Missing_, not **dead**_. _And I know it's him. It's his handwriting."

They were quiet for the rest of the night.

Sora woke up the next morning to the sound of waves. Riku's head was leaning on top of his, and Kairi had hers buried in Sora's neck. Uncomfortable for a number of reasons Sora looked out the window. Still, here with both of them, he felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders. While the future wasn't certain, he was sure they would both be apart of it.

TO BE CONTINUED IN: Extreme makeover: Rock Edition!

*=Tim Allen. He plays Santa Claus in the Santa Clause movies.

Roxas' insert song was Beautiful Soul by Jesse McCartney. Because Roxas is voiced by Jesse McCartney. And it fit really well. Roxas singing is canon.

I'll start the next one maybe…Mid September? And it will be Riku x Sora All the way~ This fic was the beginning of their relationship. The next one will be the full development. Now that they can't be in class together, they're going to have to work to stay together. Also TWEWY characters will be joining the cast. Other pairings….well, please request them.

I WROTE A BOOK. It's called Androngea, and it's for sale on Barnes &Noble's NOOK website and Amazon's Kindle. Download the free sample please! The book is 2.99


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